A half-length figure seated in a large arm-chair, directed to the right; three-quarter face, looking at the spectator; in dark velvet coat or cloak with closely arranged row of buttons in the centre; the coat or cloak with six rows of braided bands, cut square at the elbows. A lighter sleeve is shown with narrow white cuffs or wristbands. The right hand is resting on a pillar and holds a cap, which is upright; the left hand rests on the arm of the chair. The falling collar has no tassels. The eyes are small and dark, the complexion sallow, and the features worn; the hair, moustache, and chin-tuft are white. There is a general resemblance to Harvey, but the face is too round, and the hands are certainly not like the hands portrayed in the other pictures.

The canvas measures 38½ in. by 31 in. and is inscribed ‘Gulielmus (Magnus ille) Harveius’. It was purchased from the trustees of J. O. Else in January, 1859, and is partly reproduced in the facsimile issue of An Anatomical Dissertation upon the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals. Privately printed for G. Moreton, Canterbury, 1894.