The sitter was long thought to be Lady Hamilton, to whom she bears some superficial resemblance, and also the romantic pose is one often adopted by Lady Hamilton. The great freedom of handling would suggest that the picture was painted in the latter part of the artist’s career in the 1790s. The sense of intimacy in the portrait suggests that the sitter could well be Thelassie a French dancer who lived with the artist for a few years from the end of the 1780s.

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