The painting depicts Esther, the Jewish wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, as she prepares to enter the presence of her husband.

Millais borrowed the Yellow Jacket, a gown given to General Gordon by the Chinese emperor after his defeat of the Taiping rebellion.

In order to create a culturally unspecific effect, he turned it inside out, producing the abstract patterns visible in the painting.

[1] Millais creates a dramatic visual effect by vivid contrasts of colours, setting the deep blue of the curtain against the yellow dress and the white columns.

This also compares with the lush red locks of Millais's earlier picture The Bridesmaid and with some contemporary works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.