Portrait study of a young lady, half-length, facing to the left, probably for 'Cassandra Fedele'

The present drawing is almost certainly a preparatory sketch for Burton's watercolour Cassandra Fedele (1869, Dublin City Gallery) for which there is a more finished chalk drawing in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

Cassandra Fedele was a famous Venetian poetess and musician of the sixteenth-century, and it is believed that Burton, who was heavily influenced by the rich colour and historical themes of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, executed this watercolour in response to Rossetti's painting Beata Beatrix (circa 1864-70, Tate, London)