Masreliez was born in
Paris and came to Sweden at the age of 5 in 1753. He was the son of French ornamental sculptor
Adrien Masreliez (1717–1806) and the elder brother of sculptor
Jean Baptiste Masreliez (1753–1801). He began his education at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (
Ritakademien) at the age of 10. Since the academy did not teach painting, he studied in Stockholm at the workshop of ornament painter Lorens Gottman (1708–1779). In 1769 he was given a study grant which he used to travel to
Paris,
Bologna and
Rome to study. In Rome he spent time with several of the French, Italian and German artists who would shape the
Neoclassicism decorative style. In 1783, Louis Masreliez was called back to Sweden after his twelve-year absence. Following his returned to Sweden, he became a member (
ledamot) of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. The following year he was made a professor of art history. He became rector of the Academy in 1802 and director in 1805. ==Selected works==