Abraham Simon is rare in Kneller’s oeuvre for its historical theme. Abraham Simon and his brother Thomas were England’s most renowned portrait medallists. Art historian George Virtue identified Simon with Cynicism, a philosophical forerunner to Stoicism. Cynics eschewed material things and were primarily concerned with leading a virtuous existence. It is clear that Kneller was aware of Simon’s beliefs. He depicts the medallist in simple robes, with long hair and a beard, carrying the staff of a pilgrim, chained to a globe, looking up from his book toward a seeming heavenly light. While he is chained to the earthly world, Simon is shown as ready for his role in the spiritual realm. Professor J. Douglas Stewart was the first to identify this subject as that of Abraham Simon, through a comparison with Simon’s known portraits.