The painting is a reduced version of the portrait by Thomas Gainsborough in Tate Britain, which was painted for the 3rd Duke of Dorset. “La Baccelli” was a famous Venetian dancer who first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, in 1774. She became the mistress of the 3rd Duke of Dorset, British Ambassador in Paris, and made her debut at the Paris Opéra in November 1782. Gainsborough Dupont was the nephew of Thomas Gainsborough, to whom he was apprenticed in 1772. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1790 and 1797. After his uncle's death he received commissions for a number of royal portraits.