The subject of this print is the writer and artist Salomon Gessner (1730-1788). This print may be the frontispiece from one of the many editions of his works. It is similar but not identical to the frontispiece of the 'Oeuvres de Salomon Gessner', a collected edition in four volumes published in Paris in 1799.

Compare British Museum item number 1868,1212.479