 He studied in Paris, in the studio of the Flemish painter Nicasius Bernaerts, a pupil of Frans Snyders.During a brief sojourn in Poland, 1695–96, he painted portraits of John III Sobieski and Polish aristocrats; after the king's death Desportes returned to Paris, convinced that he should specialise in animals and flowers.He was received by the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in 1699, with the "Self-Portrait in Hunting Dress" now in the Musée du Louvre.