Renoir was 69 years old when he painted this portrait of himself. In 1907, he had moved to the warmer climate of “Les Collettes,” a farm at Cagnes-sur-Mer, close to the Mediterranean coast to relieve rheumatoid arthritis he had since 15 years. As the disease progressed the progressive deformities in his hands and ankylosis of his right shoulder, required him to change his painting technique. But he kept on painting until his death in 1919.