Winterhalter was born in the Black Forest where he was encouraged to draw at school. In 1818 he went to Freiburg to study under Karl Ludwig Schüler and then moved to Munich in 1823, where he attended the Academy and studied under Josef Stieler, a fashionable portrait painter. Winterhalter was first brought to the attention of Queen Victoria by the Queen of the Belgians and subsequently painted numerous portraits at the English court from 1842 till his death.

The Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria's mother, is in a black evening dress with a white lace cap, holding a bunch of flowers. Her bracelet is set with a miniature of Queen Victoria. This painting is apparently a replica of the original which is now in the Schloss Friedrichshof. The original was painted for King Louis Philippe of France, as Queen Victoria noted in her Journal: 'Winterhalter has painted a most beautiful picture and wonderful likeness of Mama, for the King of the French, who intends building or arranging a gallery at Eu, in which are to be placed our portraits, my Father's and Mama's'.

Signed: F Winterhalter.