Maria Theresa (1717-80) was the eldest daughter of the Emperor Charles VI. She succeeded her father and became Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and Holy Roman Empress and was a key figure in the power politics of eighteenth-century Europe. In 1736, she married her cousin, Francis of Lorraine.

The miniature stems from a pastel portrait by Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-1789), painted around 1744 and now in Schloss Weimar. Liotard had arrived in Vienna in 1743 and had painted many portraits of Maria Theresa and her family. Liotard was born in Geneva, the son of the goldsmith, Antoine Liotard, and twin brother of the engraver, Michel Liotard. He studied in Geneva and Paris, and travelled extensively in Italy. In Florence, he met Sir William Ponsonby, later earl of Bessborough, and they travelled together to Constantinople (Istanbul) where he stayed for five years. After more European travels, to Vienna, Venice, Darmstadt, Lyons and Geneva, Liotard settled in Paris from 1748 to 1753 as painter to the king, Louis XV, and he became a member of the Academy of St Luke. He visited England twice, in 1753-5 and 1773-4. In 1777, he was invited to Vienna by the Emperor Joseph II. He published a treatise in 1781: Traité des principes et des règles de la peinture (Treaty on the principles and rules of painting) which argued for the importance of draughtsmanship and naturalistic colouring.