This self-portrait is devoid of professional attributes. There is a subtle hint, though, in the elegant, gold- patterned coat, revealing that this is a man of high social standing, at the same time as the softly falling fabric suggests informal dress of the kind scholars and artists tended to be portrayed in. When he made this painting, Ehrenstrahl had been court painter for almost three decades. The same year he was also given the title of Surveyor to the King’s Household.