As a young widow, not yet 19, Duchess Anna Amalia conducted the duchy’s state business until her son Carl August came of age. The portrait depicts the duchess clad in precious clothing and with a regal bearing. The painter does not identify her as regent with an order or crown, however, but rather as a lover of music and art with a sheet of music and a piano. She supported the arts, made Weimar into a cultural centre, and was herself an amateur composer.