Charles XI of Sweden inherited the throne in 1660 when he was still a child, but a period of regency followed and he officially reigned as King of Sweden from 1672, when he reached the age of majority, until his death in 1697. During the Scanian War of the 1670s Charles XI led his country in battles against Brandenburg and Denmark, with peace treaties finally reached in 1679. The last two decades of his rule were peaceful. 

David Ehrenstrahl was the principal court painter in Sweden during the second half of the seventeenth century. The artist was first employed by the mother of Charles XI, the Dowager Queen Maria Eleanora. As well as portraits of the royal family, the artist was also commissioned to paint decorative schemes at their residences. Ehrenstrahl and his large workshop painted over 500 portraits of Charles XI. This is one of two of the Swedish King by Ehrenstrahl in the Royal Collection (see also RCIN 405909). 

This portrait dates from after the coronation in 1675, but not before 1680, when the King ordered that the elk-hide jerkins that the Swedish regiment of the Royal Horse Guards (Livregementet till Häst) were issued with be knee-length. At least two other versions of this portrait exist, one in the Swedish Nationalmuseum (inv. no NMGrh 3888), and one in a Swedish private collection.