Thomas Lawrence was a child prodigy who astounded people with his natural ability in portrait drawing. Fanny Burney wrote: ‘not merely the wonder of the family but of the times for his astonishing skill in drawing.’

Lawrence’s family moved to Bath in the early 1780s where he started to sell small portraits in pastel. In 1787, he moved to London and became an instant success. Two years later he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Queen Charlotte. In the late 1780s Lawrence recorded that he was ‘now painting a head of myself in oils’. This self-portrait may not be the portrait mentioned, but it appears to date from around Lawrence’s arrival in London, as he has cut off the youthful curls so admired when he lived in Bath.