Samuel Adam-Salomon became one of the most sought-after portraitists of French literary and artistic luminaries. Here, however, he posed a wizened scholar with furrowed brow, poring over a heavy tome in a lush interior setting with ornate furniture and draperies. Whether taken from the artist’s imagination or from well-known literary, historical, or biblical narratives, such staged scenes were immensely popular with Victorian audiences. Variant images show the same model playing the cello or contemplating a skull (the latter image titled The Philosopher.)