The artist was inspired by the work of the Swiss painter Angelica Kaufmann (1741–1807) entitled Portrait of Caterina Odescalchi, Duchess of Bracciano, Sirmio and Ceri (1765–1839), which is in a private collection. The portrait of the then eighteen-year-old Caterina Odescalchi (1765-1839) was made in 1783, a year before she married Luigi Melzi d'Eril, a member of a prominent Milanese noble family.