John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-92) was closely associated with Frederick, Prince of Wales and after his death in 1751, with his widow, the sitter for this portrait. There were even rumours (almost certainly false) of a liaison. In 1755 he became tutor to the sitter's eldest son, the future George III. In 1764 Bute commissioned a full-length portrait of his patroness (Scottish Private Collection) of which this is a studio version. By this time Bute had become Prime Minister to the new King, George III, and had also ensured that his favourite artist, Allan Ramsay, had been adopted as in effect the official court portrait painter. The sitter is here shown walking in a garden (surely generic rather than topographical) wearing a black lace shawl over head and shoulders and dusky pink silk dress trimmed with lace. She holds a parasol.