[1][2] Bernhardt was an admirer of Bastien-Lepage, at least since his painting l'Annonciation aux Bergers had lost narrowly the Prix de Rome, in 1875.

Bastien-Lepage decided to portray Bernhardt seated, in profile, looking away from the viewer and into a statuette of Orpheus that she holds with both hands.

According to the Christie's website: "Orpheus thus embodies the ars longa that Bernhardt hoped to achieve in her sculpture and that was merely ephemeral in her stage appearances.

Art critic Jules-Antoine Castagnary, a supporter of realism, had the highest praise for the painting, calling it "an extraordinary work", who might be remembered one hundrend years from then as a masterpiece.

[6] This portrait reached the highest price in the art market by a Bastien-Lepage painting, when it sold by $2,280,000 at Christie's, on 20 October 2022.