Countess Sofia Vladimirovna Panina, née Orlova (1774-1844), in black dress tied at her waist with black ribbon, ruched sleeves, a bow at her corsage, large lace collar, a white bonnet adorned with red carnations tied under her chin

A lady-in-waiting to the Empress, the sitter married in 1790 Count Nikita Petrovich Panin (1771-1837), ambassador to The Hague and Berlin, Vice Chancellor of the Empire, privy councillor and knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevskii. Renowned for her charitable deeds, she was buried at the Donskoi Monastery with three daughters who predeceased her. Another miniature of her, attributed to Lagrénée, was sold Christie's, Geneva, 14 November 1989, lot 205, and featured in the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Collection, Sotheby's, London, 18-19 September 2007, lot 178 (part), as 'an elegant lady'.