Lady Charlotte was the daughter of the famously beautiful Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton and Argyll, and inherited her family's good looks.This portrait was painted when she was visiting Naples; Tischbein was captivated by her, and said that she was "more perfect than the best artist could have imagined". He has posed this classically lovely sitter like a muse or goddess in total harmony with the natural world around her. Lady Charlotte subsequently became a successful novelist, writing under her married name.