Alexander Roslin from Malmö was one of the great portrait painters in Paris during the 1700's second half. Among his clients were the kings and nobles. He was elected to the French Academy in 1752 and had a studio and residence at the Louvre. Roslin presented himself in the portrait as he looked when he was at the height of his career. His popularity was due to his tremendous skill to paint silk, velvet, beads, lace and other materials so that they looked real.
Malmö Art Museum's self-portrait by Alexander Roslin from 1790 is a replica of the artist himself made of an earlier painting from the same year, now in the collection of artist's portraits in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.