Cosimo III was the penultimate Grand Duke of Tuscany, reigning from 1670 till 1723. During his unprecedented reign of 53 years he brought the Florence economy, already nearly bankrupt at his ascension, to an all time low. This was however also to be attributed to the extravagances of his wife, Marguerite Louise d' Orleans. The volatile marriage was never a happy one and the spouses never lived together again after the birth of their three children (Ferdinando, Anna Maria Luisa, the future Electress Palatine and Gian Gastone, the last Grand Duke. To escape his unhappy domestic situation he went on extensive travels, encouraged by his father. He was a passionate collector of art, among which Dutch paintings that he bought during his travels in The Netherlands took a special place. To this end he employed agents like Giovacchino Guasconi, del Vigna and Francesco Ferroni. He also acquired works of art through the mediation of his son-in-law, the Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm. It is ascertained that he bought two still-lifes during his travels from J.D. de Heem and two by Maria van Oosterwijk. The Palazzo Pitti houses two still-lifes by Willem van Aelst and two by Rachel Ruysch. He further ordered works by artists like Frans van Mieris, Jan van Kessel, Jan de Heem, Willem Drost, Gerard Dou, Gerard ter Borch and many others, several of whom still in Florence. In 1677 he took three of the most famous antique statues, the Wrestlers, the Medici Venus and the Arrotino (the "Blade-Sharpener"), from the Villa Medici in Rome, with the permission of pope Innocence XI, but to the intense chagrin of the Romans and had them installed in the Uffizi in Florence.

Cosimo employed Van Achelom in 1667, who settled in Florence in 1668.