The title of this artfully contrived composition refers not only to the subject, who is viewed both in the mirror and from behind, but also to her reflective state of mind. The painting showcases Darmesteter’s skill in combining flesh tones, drapery, still life and the interior, highlighting the fall of light on the young woman’s shoulders and picking out the folds of her dress.

Helena Arsène Darmesteter was born in London, the elder sister of Sir Philip Hartog. She studied in Paris with Gustave Courtois and later settled there with her husband, a professor at the Sorbonne. Darmesteter became an established portrait painter and her sitters included Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild. A member of the Société des Artistes Français and the Société Nationale, Darmesteter exhibited in the Universal Exhibition, Paris (1900), and regularly at the Paris Salon and the Royal Academy, London.