Cornelis de Vos was a painter and art dealer born in the Netherlands around 1584, into a family of artists; nothing is known about his training and early work. He painted historical and religious compositions and portraits of 17th century Flemish middle classes with painstaking attention to details in the setting and the objects accompanying the sitters. In this painting, little is known of the sitter except that her clothing and jewellery indicate her possible aristocratic status.