Augustin Ritt was born in St Petersburg as the son of a German orchestra musician. He arrived in Paris in 1787 and studied at the studio of Francois André Vincent. Ritt specialised in miniature painting and adopted Hall’s style, which was fashionable. It was at this period that he painted a Swede, Anders Fredrik Reuterswärd, lieutenant in the Royal Suédois and adjutant to the regiment’s colonel, Axel von Fersen. Reuterswärd assisted his master with the preparations for the flight to Varennes in 1791 and, later, with Fersen’s attempt to free the Queen. Ritt left Paris at this juncture, which was 1792.