Louis Masreliez was the son of the French sculptor Adrien Masreliez, who worked at the Royal Palace. Louis first studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, which was located in a wing of the Palace, and then in Italy for several years. After he returned to Sweden in 1783, he received several important interior design commissions. In his designs for Gustav III’s apartments, he used Classical symbolism to draw parallels between the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) and Karl XII’s victory over the Russians at Narva in 1700