King Augustus is wearing the blue ribbon and star of the Order of the White Eagle of Poland. The miniature is based on a full-length equestrian portrait by Louis de Silvestre, formerly in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, which was a popular subject for miniature copyists.

On the death of his brother, John George IV, Augustus became Elector of Saxony in 1694. He was crowned King of Poland as Augustus II in 1697 but was defeated and deposed in 1702, recovering the crown after the battle of Poltava in 1709. He married Christina of Hohenzollern and had several children, among them Maurice of Saxony, whose miniature is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 420575). Augustus built up a significant art collection, founded the Dresden and Meissen porcelain factories, and befriended the artist Rosalba Carriera.

François Picot (1698-1762) was born in Geneva and was the nephew of the jeweller Isaac Picot. He studied under Jean Cuchet and then worked in France, Italy and Germany. In 1730, he opened a drawing school in Geneva. He was in Amsterdam between 1760 and 1762 and apparently came to England, considering a portrait of the Queen of England his best work.

Signed and dated on the crimson lining of the armour: Picot pt 17… (possibly 1731)