Antique Portrait of John Duke of Bedford by Vertue, circa 1750

George Vertue (1684-1756) was an English engraver, artist and publisher, as well as a researcher on the history of British art. He was a member of the Academy of Painting, as well as the Society of Antiquaries. He created around five hundred portraits and a similar number of published plates were devoted to antiquarian subjects. Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780) was a Dutch engraver who devoted himself almost entirely to portraiture. He produced a published record of the lives of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. In many cases his portraits are the only likenesses left of these people. Houbraken He collaborated with the historian Thomas Birch and artist George Vertue, on the project entitled, "Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain", published in parts in London from 1743 to 1752. From 1752 to 1759 he worked with the historian Jan Wagenaar (1709–1773) on his 21 part "Vaderlandsche Historie", published by Isaac Tirion in Amsterdam.