Per Krafft studied in Paris from 1757 to 1762, including under his compatriot Alexander Roslin, although he was also strongly influenced by other artists, such as Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Franois-Hubert Drouais and Noël Hallé. This picture of a reading boy, who looks as if he is about to fall asleep, is part of a long tradition of moralising depictions of slothfulness, dating back to seventeenth-century Holland. These were incredibly popular in Paris at that time.