Georg Engelhard Schröder was born in 1884 in Stockholm as a goldsmith. His father had about 1670 emigrated from Nuremberg to Stockholm.

Around 1700, Schröder became a student of the court painter David von Krafft and was mentioned in 1705 as his journeyman. During the years 1706–1708, he was active in Gothenburg, where he worked as a portrait and decoration painter, but left the country in 1709. He spent sixteen years abroad. He first stayed in Braunschweig before moving on to Italy. In Venice, he stayed for five years and had contact with artists such as Rosalba Carriera, Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, and Johan Richter. He also stayed in Rome and Florence. Later, he retired in Paris, and after a period in Munich, he set...