A celebrated singer at the Paris Opera, Rosalie Duplant began her career in 1763 and retired from the stage some twenty years later. She particularly shone in the opera Atys, composed in 1780 by Niccolò Piccinni, as evoked by the open score on the pianoforte. The inscription ‘Merken Parisiis fecit 1785’ can also be seen, alluding to the musical instrument manufacturer Johann Kilian Merken.

The painting reveals the period’s taste for motifs inherited from classical antiquity. The back of the chair is decorated with a frieze, à l’étrusque, consisting in a row of small figures painted on wood. This practice, already present in the Louis XVI style, became widespread as a characteristic of the Directoire style. Vincent joined the reforming aesthetic currents of the Neoclassical movement even before his rival David, as confirmed by this linear and ordered composition, which emphasises drawing and softness of tones.