Giovanna Marmocchini (1666-1731) was born in Florence where, as a child, she was introduced by her aunt to the court of Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Here she learnt miniature painting, drawing and oil painting, and the new technique of pastels, of which she became a master. In 1684, aged 18, she married Giuliano Fratellini. She was an excellent portrait painter and much valued at the Medici court and became a member of the drawing academy from 1706. Violante of Bavaria, the wife of Prince Ferdinand, appointed Fratellini as her official portrait artist and between 1717 and 1722 the artist completed at least 20 pastels and miniatures on ivory for her. Many of the enamels painted by Fratellini were set with precious stones and given as gifts to the ladies at court. On Violante's orders, the artist travelled to Bologna to paint James Stuart, son of King James II of England, and his wife, Maria Clementina Sobieski, and their children. From there she went to Venice to paint the daughter of the king of Poland, Teresa Cunegonda Sobieski. Here she met the artist Rosalba Carriera. She died in Florence and was buried in the church of Ognissanti.

This miniature is one of the collection of copies of 224 self-portraits by artists in the Uffizi Palace, Florence, that Lord Cowper, the art collector and patron, commissioned Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-1780) to paint. He presented the miniatures to King George III in two batches, in 1773 and 1786. Macpherson followed the original self-portraits quite closely, but copied only the head and shoulders. He inscribed the artists' names on the backs of the miniatures – several differ from those in the modern Uffizi catalogue, notably: Bazzi, Bellini, Campi, Annibale Carracci, Gabbiani, Masaccio, Metsys, Moroni, Pencz, Licinio, Schiavone and Spada. None of the miniatures is signed, apart from Macpherson's own self-portrait, which is inscribed: Giuseppe Macpherson / Autore della serie (Giuseppe Macpherson / Author of the series).Macpherson was born in Florence, the son of Donald Macpherson, a footman in the service of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon. He was a pupil of Pompeo Batoni and painted miniatures and enamel portraits in Italy, France and Germany, finally settling in Florence. A James Macpherson is recorded in London and Paris in 1754 but it is not certain that this is the same person. He was described in 1776 as having a special talent for painting on enamel and as being 'almost the only painter in Europe who possesses this art to perfection'. He had a distinguished client list which included some of the crowned heads and dignitaries of Europe. In 1778, he was invited to add his own self-portrait to the famous painters in the grand duke's collection as it 'would do honour to Florence to enrich the collection with a work which shows that we still have some men of true merit' according to Giuseppe Pelli, director of the Uffizi at the time.