The farmer Jon Bengtsson, from Ströby in Skatelöv parish, Småland, was a veteran representative of the peasant estate, from the Diet of 1755–56 down to 1789. He belonged to the Cap Party during the Age of Liberty and later joined the opposition to Gustav III at the Diets of 1786 (when this portrait was painted) and 1789. In 1797, Bengtsson was robbed and murdered. The portrait was donated by Stierneld, who for political reasons sympathised with him.