It is a full-length portrait of Bartholomé's wife, Prospérie de Fleury, wearing a purple and white dress while standing in the open door of a conservatory.

It was exhibited at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in 1881.

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was good friends with the couple and convinced Bartholomé to become a sculptor to deal with his sadness, beginning with the creation of a monument for his wife's grave.

After her death, he saved the dress Prospérie wore in the painting.

The Charles and André Bailly gallery preserved the dress and donated it to the Musée d’Orsay in 1991.