Portrait of a lady, seated three quarter length, wearing a black dress, purple shawl, lace collar and bonnet

The Antwerp neo-classicist painter Van Bree was much sought after as a portraitist during the French occupation and early years of the Netherlandish Kingdom. He was a protégé of Empress Josephine; he was knighted by Pope Pius VII whose portrait he painted in Rome during his Italian trip of 1821-22; also he painted for King William I and the crown prince of the Netherlands.