The history and portrait painter Josef Grassi was born in Vienna as the son of an Italian goldsmith. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. When he lost an Academy competition for a travel scholarship, he moved to Warsaw in disappointment. In Warsaw, Grassi was able to establish himself as a portrait painter, executing portraits of all sizes – from miniatures to life-size portraits. Due to political unrest, he left Warsaw, spent some time in Paris in 1798 and received a professorship at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1799. Between 1816 and 1821, Grassi stayed in Rome in his capacity as the 'Director of Studies for Saxon Artists in Italy'. His last painting is dated 1827. After his return to Dresden, Grassi lived in seclusion, was frequently ill and lost his most important commissioners, the Saxon King Frederick Augustus I and Duke Augustus of Saxe-Gotha. Grassi, who had been a renowned portraitist throughout his career, was quickly forgotten after his death.