Nicaise de Keyser (1813-87) studied at the Academy in Antwerp with Mathieu Ignace Van Brée. He exhibited altarpieces influenced by Rubens at the Salons of 1834 and 1835. After success in 1836 with his huge canvas, Battle of the Gold Spurs, he received commissions from royalty and from prominent families at home and abroad. In 1848 he became a member of the Koninklijke Academy in Brussels, and in 1855 he was appointed director of the Academy in Antwerp. His large history paintings and his genre scenes deal with Romantic subjects, but the execution is often cold and academic. Although celebrated during his lifetime, his art was soon forgotten after his death.

Marie Henriette, youngest daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary, married, on 22 August 1853, Leopold, Duke of Brabant, eldest son of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, and Queen Louise. She became Queen of the Belgians when her husband succeeded his father to the throne in 1865. Their only son, Leopold, died aged nine in 1869, but she was survived by three daughters.

This portrait is one of a pair depicting the Duke and his Duchess (RCIN 405103 & 405108) and one of three works by this artist in the collection (see RCIN 405151). The sitter is shown here full-length, resting her right hand, in which she clutches a fan, on a stone balustrade beside her; she wears a low-cut white dress with two gold and diamond bracelets, and flowers in her hair.