The painting is Ernst Josephson's highly personal interpretation of Michiel Sittow's (1468/69-1525/26) portrait of the Danish king Christian II from 1514-15, which is part of the collections at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. During the year 1876, Josephson devoted himself extensively to copying older masters. He aimed to master the technique as well as to improve his own portrait painting. A long series of the great classics were copied in his own interpretation, among these several of Rembrandt's paintings. Josephson was also particularly captivated by Rembrandt's technique, so when he copied Sittow's painting in Copenhagen, he did so in a manner that probably resembled Rembrandt more than Sittow.