Manet decided to show his painting in the window of a shop on the Boulevard des Capucines, one of Paris’s main streets.

The painting shows a young and beautiful woman who stands before a mirror with two extinguished candles, her face turned to the spectator.

[3] Manet wanted to present the painting at the Salon of Paris but it was rejected because it was deemed to be contemptuous of the morality of the time.

French society was not prepared for such frank depictions of prostitution, and the critics did not see the artistic qualities of the work and concentrated solely on the scene which was represented.

It is likely that Manet found inspiration in L'Assommoir, Zola's previous book, in which the character of Nana appears for the first time.