[1] [2] In the early stages of his career Boilly largely produced genre paintings and portraits before switching to the street scenes of Paris for which he is best known.

[3] It was one of eleven works Boilly produced for an aristocrat from Avignon Antoine Joseph François Xavier Calvet de Lapalun, all of which feature various stages of love.

In this case a woman is left distraught when a servant of her former lover returns her portrait, signalling that their relationship is over.

[4] Today the painting is in the Wallace Collection in London, having been acquired by Marquess of Hertford in 1863.

[5] Another painting in the series The Visit Returned is also in the Wallace Collection.