although the work is signed and dated on the lower left of the canvas, the identity of the sitter is uncertain. the painting was untitled when it entered the collection of the musée des beaux-arts de rouen, shortly beforehand she was tentatively identified as a madame aymon (disputed by the beaux-arts de rouen) with the portrait given the nickname of "la belle zélie", a reference to a popular song in the 1870s, mentioned because of the "subtle hint of vulgarity" apparent in the painting. if the sitter is a madame aymon, ingres may also have portrayed her husband, though no such work is known.