A historical scene, showing an interior staircase. At the bottom of a flight of steps leading from a bedchamber lies a young woman. She wears a long white linen nightdress with long sleeves, and an oyster-pink dressing gown. Her long red hair lies around her, and her skin has a greenish tinge. She is dead. On the third step from the bottom stands a male courtier, dressed in dark clothes, who looks down at the body.

He stretches his hand behind him to stop a servant, who holds up his hands in horror. To the right is a window, which casts its light on the body. To the left is a bannister and lower stairwell.

Amy Robsart was the wife of Robert Dudley, later the Earl of Leicester.