Portrait of Paul Thiry (1723-1789), Baron d'Holbach, philosopher and encyclopedist, half-length, in a red jacket with fur cuffs

After training in Malmö, Stockholm, and Göteborg, the Swedish painter and pastellist Alexander Roslin traveled to Germany, Italy, and France, where he became one of the most sought-after portraitists of his time. He was admitted as a full member of the Académie Royale in 1753 upon presenting two portraits of fellow painters Hyacinthe Collin de Vermont and Étienne Jeaurat. While in Paris, Roslin painted numerous portraits of artists, intellectuals, political figures, and royals from across Europe, including the present sitter.

Paul Thiry, Baron d’Holbach, was a prominent figure among French Enlightenment thinkers. He is perhaps most famous for hosting a well-attended salon at his Paris residence, which included leading intellectuals of his time—Denis Diderot, Jean-François Marmontel, André Morellet, and Jacques-André Naigeon—among many other contributors to the Encyclopédie. For the Encyclopédie, Holbach translated articles on a wide range of subjects, including politics, religion, chemistry, and mineralogy. In 1770 he published his most famous work, Le Système de la nature, under the name Jean-Baptiste de Mirabaud. The text denies the existence of a single god and expounds an entirely naturalistic view of the universe, governed solely by natural laws.