Jean Petitot's career as an enamellist spanned seven decades of the seventeenth-century and took him from his birthplace in Geneva to the courts of Charles I in London and of Louis XIV in Paris. He is widely regarded as the most important enamellist of his period on account of the incomparable quality and prolific nature of his work. This is one of thirteen enamels of Louis XIV by Jean Petitot in the Royal Collection and dates to c. 1660. It is one of the finest of the series and dates to the period when Petitot was at the height of his success, working as Court Painter in Enamel to Louis XIV. Petitot's smoothly painted, richly coloured enamels were highly sought after not only during his lifetime but also during the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. George IV acquired over fifty miniatures by Petitot during the years 1799-1827, including twenty-seven representing, or thought to represent, Louis XIV. The majority were inset into snuff-boxes at the point of their acquisition, but were subsequently separated from their settings after the death of George IV. It is likely that this miniature is one of enamels that remained in the Royal Collection after the original settings were sold.