This oil painting is inscribed in Danish at the bottom: OVERINSPEKTØR, CARLSBERG, JAKOB VIMPEL, EFTER FOT, HO. It is a portrait of Jakob Vimpel in his laboratory. He was the superintendent of the Carlsberg Breweries, Copenhagen Denmark, during the early part of the 20th century and the author of a pamphlet published in 1924 entitled Carlsberg Bryggerierne (Carlsberg Breweries).

Of significance is the microscope he is using in the portrait. It appears to be similar to a Seibert Large Model No.2, c. 1895. The woodcut at the right, showing a slightly earlier form of such an instrument, was extracted from 1893 edition of The Microscope by Dr. Henri Van Heurck. (click on this image to see an actual example of the later form of this model)