I'm curious to know if there are any popular works that depict historians and the study of history as opposed to actual historical events. There are plenty of such works about the lives of artists, writers, scientists, anthropologists--heck, even mathematicians--but there does not seem to be any such fanfare regarding historians. Are we simply not dynamic enough to warrant such attention, or is there actually stuff out there in line with what I'm asking for?
I'm not entirely clear on what you're asking for- do you mean cultural depictions of the study of history, or literally just pieces of art that are about historiography? I imagine you're asking something along the lines of "are there any interesting depictions of history as a discipline in popular culture?" I'd think that most people would find a close depiction of any academic field, not just history, to be somewhat boring. That said, one can find depictions of 'historiography' in web comics and even as a creative exercise unto itself in alternate history books.
There are countless depictions of history as a field (admittedly often personified in some form) in the arts. Look at this Vermeer, "The Art of Painting" (1666), which is full of allusions to recent important historical events, and arguably also to the discipline of history itself. It depicts Clio, the muse of History (yes, we have our own muse) in front of a map of the Lowlands being painted by an artist. The large wrinkle in the map supposedly represents the then recent splitting of the Dutch Republic (on the right) from the Hapsburg provinces (on the left). There's even a Hapsburg double eagle on top of the chandelier. One could say that by depicting this topic in his art, Vermeer was himself producing a sort of symbolic version of his region's history.
There's also Mengs' portrait of Johann Winckelmann (ca. 1777), a major figure in 18th c. Art History (some would say one of the founders of the discipline). In his hands he holds a copy of the Iliad.
Or this allegory on writing history by Jacob de Wit (1754). Wisdom and Truth look upon History as she writes her work on a large scroll, itself perched on a globe.
Such works are very common. Admittedly, I can't think of one that literally shows a real historian conducting research, but that doesn't sound like a particularly interesting painting. Someone may have a better answer, or I may have entirely misunderstood what you were asking. Let me know if you have any questions!
I am not sure if this really qualifies, but in Fitzgerald's second novel: The Beautiful & Damned; the main protagonist is a young Princeton graduate from an affluent family who moves to New York and decides to write a history book. He never completes the book as he descends into idleness and drunkenness. But nonetheless the story is about an aspiring historian.
