Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1784-1844), was the eldest son of Franz, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, whom he succeeded in 1806. He succeeded to the Duchy of Gotha in 1826, after his brother-in-law’s death, through his marriage to Louise Saxe-Gotha. His marriage to Louise was unhappy and they had separated in 1824 and divorced in 1826. In 1832 he married Mary of Württemberg. He was Prince Albert’s father and Queen Victoria’s uncle. Albert and Victoria were extremely fond of him. On his death in 1844, the queen wrote of ‘our present overwhelming grief … our Dearly beloved Father, was the kindest & best of Parents, - of Relations & of Princes’. Princess Feodora, Queen Victoria’s half-sister, remembered ‘how happy he always was to show his favourite places and the improvements and alterations he had made; he has left many monuments of his excellent tastes & talents’. Here he is wearing Russian uniform and the star and cross of the Order of the Black Eagle.

Daniel Saint (1778-1847), the artist, was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Isabey, and copied many of his portraits of Napoleon. He was miniature painter to Charles X of France.

The miniature is signed on the left: Saint.