Elizabeth Sonrel was born in Tours, France on 17 May 1874. She was principally a portraitist and figure painter although she also worked as an illustrator and watercolourist. She was a pupil of Jules Lefebvre. She exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francais where she received an honorable mention in 1893, a third class medal in 1895 and a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1900. She was also awarded the Henri Lehmann prize by the Institute.

Sonrel's subjects which are usually of beautiful young women in pseudo-medieval dress are painted in a sombre symbolic style with Art Nouveau overtones, particularly in the attention to detail of the costume and jewellery of the figures. Cordelia is no exception in mood, the model shows a striking resemblance to that used in Sonrels painting of A female Saint sold in these Rooms on 5 October 1990, lot 55.