Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine of Prussia, the eldest daughter and child of Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophie Dorothea of Hanover was born in Berlin, Prussia. She was the sister and close confidant of her brother Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia. A talented composer, and lutenist, she took an active interest in the arts and, following her marriage to Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, she transformed Bayreuth into a miniature Versailles - rebuilding the Palace, their summer residence and renovating the Opera House - thereby initiating that city's association with music.

Her mother, the sister of George II, keen for her to make political marriage, wished her daughter to marry her cousin, Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, on the British side there was no inclination to make an offer of marriage except in exchange for substantial concessions that Wilhelmine's father would not accept.

Antoine Pesne, a leading Rococo painter of historical subjects and portraits was born in Paris. He later established a reputation as a portrait painter in Berlin, and was appointed court painter to Frederick I (the sitter’s grandfather) in 1711. His work was praised for its exact rendition and detail; and his style evolved to embody the Frederican Rococo style. On the death of Frederick I in 1713 Pesne worked for his more frugal son, Frederick William I, and received the patronage of Queen Sophia Dorothea.

Depicted as a young woman, at over three-quarter-length, wearing a blue silk dress embroidered with flowers, with flowers and lace around the neckline, and an ermine-trimmed mantle. She is holding a pet spaniel under her right arm; set within a formal garden.