This drawing is believed to date from when David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl was about thirty years old. He returned to Sweden in August 1661, after several years studying and working on the continent, and was appointed court painter at the end of the year. The character of this drawing, with a hint of a smile and the gaze on the observer, is markedly different from the self-portrait, full of symbolism, which Ehrenstrahl painted towards the end of his career.