English: The first male heir of the future King John VI was born at the Palace of Queluz on March 21, 1795, and died on June 11, 1801, a victim of smallpox, at only six years of age. The throne was then inherited by his younger brother, Infante Dom Pedro. The baptism of Dom António Pio was likely the last grand celebration related to the Braganza dynasty held at the Palace of Queluz. Taking place in 1795, it was marked by great ostentation, with several adaptations made for the ceremonies and festivities, as detailed in contemporary descriptions.

This portrait, painted after the prince’s death, was created at the same time as a series of portraits depicting his sisters and his mother, Queen Carlota Joaquina. The attribution of these works to Taunay is based on stylistic and compositional similarities with other signed works by the artist—particularly the portrait of the Marchioness of Belas (1816), which belongs to the collection of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo.

The painter Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, a member of the Fourth Class of Fine Arts of the Institut Royale de France, was part of the French Artistic Mission that arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1816, following the fall of the Napoleonic Empire. As a state-sponsored painter of the Kingdom of Brazil, he returned to Paris at the beginning of 1821.