The portraiture and lifestyle of a self-confident and wealthy bourgeoisie had a profound artistic home in Munich at the end of the 19th century. Three painters - Franz von Lenbach, Franz von Stuck and Friedrich August von Kaulbach - competed for the public's attention. All three of them, along with many other artists of the time, established a significant part of their fame through portraits. With their female portraits in particular they surpassed one another in teems of delicacy of the subject matter, the charm of their sitters and their secret signals. They are idealized and depicted in simple but effective poses. In his portraits, Friedrich August von Kaulbach also makes use of those effective, traditional patterns that reach back to English figure painting, especially to Gainsborough. The young lady's grace is enhanced by her fashionable and elegant clothing. We encounter the unknown beauty reading in the garden - whether this might be a letter from a secret admirer is left to the viewer's imagination.