Magdalena Augusta was the daughter of Karl of Anhalt-Zerbst and Sophie, Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels. In 1696 she married Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg at Friedenstein Castle. She was the maternal grandmother to George III; her youngest daughter, Augusta, married Frederick Prince of Wales in 1736. She is depicted wearing a fur-trimmed red mantle over a yellow brocade dress, with a pendant diamond brooch at her breast intertwined with a rope of pearls; within a painted oval.

The portrait is possibly after the full-length, set within a garden landscape, by Christian Schilbach in Friedenstein Castle, Gotha.