Peter Scheemakers (1691–1781) was born in Antwerp. He became one of the most successful sculptors in eighteenth-century Europe. Scheemakers travelled to London in 1720, where he worked for Pierre Denis Plumier’s workshop creating garden statuary for the great formal landscapes of this period. In 1728 Scheemakers travelled to Rome to study the antique masterpieces. His studies bought him to the attention of distinguished physician Dr Richard Mead, a patron who transformed his career. This portrait of Scheemakers depicts the sculptor in an imaginary studio with a newly completed bust of Harvey. In his hand is an engraving of Harvey, while at the foot of the easel are two busts also sculpted by Scheemakers of Inigo Jones and Cicero. The surrounding classical architecture is evocative of Scheemakers’s period of study in Rome and of his reputation as a classicist.