Portrait of a Lady, in a velvet gown and blue embroidered shawl, a guitar at her feet, a view of the Bay of Naples from the strata di Posilippo, with Vesuvius erupting in a landscape in the background

George Hayter likely began his artistic training with his father, Charles Hayter, who painted miniature portraits, authored manuals on art instruction, and served as Princess Charlotte's perspective and drawing tutor. George entered the Royal Academy schools in 1808 and by 1815 was appointed as Painter of Miniatures and Portraits by Princess Charlotte. He was encouraged by his patron and avid art collector, John Russel, 6th Duke of Bedford, to study in Italy. In 1816 he arrived and gained an honorary membership at the Accademia San Luca in Florence. He returned to England two years later, and worked primarily as a portrait and history painter. He returned to Italy in 1826, working in Florence until the scandal of the death of his mistress Louisa Cauty forced him to flee to Rome, where he continued painting portraits of English society members living abroad. It is possible this portrait was completed during Hayter's Italian sojourn before he returned to England in 1831. He would later be appointed as Principal Painter in Ordinary and knighted by the young Queen Victoria.