Self-Portrait, c. 1790s. Li? Louis P?rin painted many self-portraits, but rarely ever at full scale. The son of a cloth manufacturer from Rheims, P?rin left the countryside for Paris to pursue a career in miniature painting. Although he enjoyed a fast-growing reputation as a miniaturist among Parisian aristocracy, a full-scale self-portrait provided an opportunity to display his skills unhampered by the demands of a commissioned picture or painting in a miniature format.