Dr. Joseph Leidy, an anesthesiologist in the Philadelphia area who is the subject of the present work, also appears in Thomas Eakins's masterpiece, The Agnew Clinic. The Agnew Clinic depicts Dr. Agnew performing a partial mastectomy in a medical amphitheater. Dr. Agnew is depicted in the left foreground holding a scalpel and assisted by Dr. Joseph Leidy, who leans over the patient's body, taking her pulse. Eakins painted the present work a year after he completed The Agnew Clinic when the artist's interest in portraiture grew. Portraits Eakins created between 1891-1906 are considered among his greatest works.