Alessandro Cades was a renowned gem engraver who worked in Rome. In this portrait, one of a pair by the artist, Cades made use of wax’s transparency to create a miniature which recalls ancient cameos carved from shell or semiprecious stone. The sitter is unknown, but her hair and dress are finely modeled and representative of contemporary fashions of the early 1800s, particularly the vogue for high-waisted muslin dresses inspired by antiquity.