It was produced during her stay in Naples for its subject Yekatarina Skavronskaya's husband, Count Pavel Martinovich Skavronsky, Russia's Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Naples.

The countess leans slightly on the arm of the sofa and has a languid and dreamy appearance.

The use of color in the work is subdued, with rich shades of blue and green predominating.

The young woman looks at a miniature in her hand that most likely contains a portrait of her husband.

During one of her travels through important European cities, Vigée-Le Brun met once again the countess, who was now a widow, in Saint Petersburg, in 1796.