Among the artists who reacted against the static poses of neoclassical art, Carrier-Belleuse drew inspiration from the opulence and excess of Rococo portraiture of the 1700s. This bust resembles one of Napoleon III's mistresses, Marguerite Bellanger, whose features the artist is known to have borrowed for his female busts. Carrier-Belleuse received commissions from Napoleon III, ruler of France from 1852 to 1870, and contributed to the sculptural decorations of the Louvre and Opera Garnier in Paris.