Andrea Soldi was born in Florence, and settled in London around 1736 where he practised as a portrait painter. As a result of his contacts with his aristocratic sitters, he became preoccupied with social status, claiming that he would prefer ‘to be thought a Count or a Marquis rather than an excellent Painter’. In 1744 his extravagant lifestyle led to his imprisonment for debt and he eventually died a pauper. This portrait is signed and dated 1758, and was almost certainly painted when Soldi was working in Scotland (c. 1756-58).