Olof Arenius, a Swedish portrait painter, and son of a minister in Upland

Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...

, was born in 1701. He studied under David von Krafft

David von Krafft

David Krafft, from 1719 David von Krafft was a German-Swedish painter, the nephew and student of David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl and his successor as painter to the Swedish Royal Court....

, and afterwards went to the Netherlands to study the old masters

Old Master

"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...

. His portraits and miniatures

Portrait miniature

A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolour, or enamel.Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th century and 18th century...

 in oil are much esteemed, and are to be found in all the public galleries, as well as in the best private collections, in Sweden. Many of them have been engraved. He died at Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

in 1766.