Portrait of William Herschel

Head and shoulders engraving by Medardus Thoenert of William Hershel in left profile. Herschel's new planet is shown in the upper left of the image, beyond the orbit of Saturn.

William Herschel was a British astronomer, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1781 the same year he was awarded the Copley Medal.

Louise Du Piery, who drew the original, was an astronomer, a pupil of Jérôme Lalande (1732-1807) the chair of astronomy at the College de France. She was the first female Professor of the Sorbonne, teaching astronomy to female pupils.