In this portrait, the artist depicts a woman wearing a satin dress. The fabric shimmers against the dark background, and brings attention to the sitter’s pale skin. Although she wears a décolleté dress and has rosy cheeks, the figure has agency as she directly engages the viewer. The veil that wraps around her head and parts of her body lends the sitter a sense of mystery. Allan Ramsay–a man who trained as a portrait painter–was possibly the maker of this painting.