Philippe Mercier (1689 – 1760), a French artist and engraver, who gained fame thanks to his active work as the chief artist and librarian at the court of the princess and prince of Wales. The artist was born in Berlin to a family of French Huguenots who worked in the tapestry factory of the Elector of Brandenburg. He studied painting at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, and later in the workshop of the French artist Antoine Pesce. A great master of portraits, costumes, fabrics, hairstyles, everyday and genre scenes.

He was appointed principal painter and librarian to the Prince and Princess of Wales at their independent establishment in Leicester Fields, and although in favour he painted various portraits of royalty and no doubt many nobles and gentry. He left London about 1740 and settled in York, where he practised portrait painting for over ten years before returning to London in 1751. In 1752 Mercier went to Portugal at the request of several English merchants. He did not remain long there, however, returning to London, where he died in 1760.