Martin Johann Schmidt, son of the sculptor Johann Schmidt, first studied with his father, then with Gottlieb Starmayr in Stein an der Donau. He also studied the paintings and engravings in various collections in Dürnstein, Göttweig and Vienna. In 1740, he collaborated with Starmayr on painting the council chamber in Retz. Years of travel and an Italian journey around the middle of the 1740s are probable. Around 1750, he started his extensive activity as a painter of altarpieces. Nearly all Austrian Benedictine abbeys were among his patrons, as well as Cistercian and Augustinian monasteries and a large number of parishes. Empress Maria Theresia was at the top of the list of his secular patrons. In 1768, Martin Johann Schmidt became a member of the Imperial Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. From the bourgeoisie he mainly got commissions for portraits, but also for depictions of ancient myths, gallant scenes and genre scenes. Schmidt painted a large number of important altarpieces and devotional pictures, he moreover created frescoes, historical paintings, portraits and he made prints.