The painting is part of a series of nine Portraits of Philosophers that can seemingly be traced to the inventory of Prince Camillo Pamphilj (1747), where similar works appear with reference to Rembrandt or Dutch artists. Archimedes, like the other portrayed philosophers, is identified only by the inscription "ARCHIMEDES SIRACUS". The different personages are depicted generically according to the characteristics of the "learned man" - austere and wrinkled face, a beard, simple garments - and without specific connotations.