Mezzotint engraving by John Smith, after Sir Godfrey Kneller's (1646-1723) portrait of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721)

Gibbons was a Dutch-British sculptor and master carver. He was employed by Sir Christopher Wren to work on St Paul's Cathedral and later was appointed as master carver to King George I. He was also commissioned by King William III to create carvings in the State Apartments at Hampton Court Palace, and the Orangery at Kensington Palace

In this portrait, Gibbons wears a long wig and holds compasses in one hand, the other resting on a cast or copy of Proserpina (part of Bernini's famous sculptural group 'Pluto and Proserpina' at the Villa Borghese, Rome