Gordigiani was the premier portraitist of the Risorgimento, the period of modern Italian unification. This portrait, commissioned by marchese Ferdinando Panciatichi (1813–1897), scion of a distinguished Florentine family, depicts the patron’s daughter or daughter-in-law. That it was one of a pair—the pendant is now unlocated—can be deduced from the original receipt for the exuberant gilt wood frame with silk velvet elements the painting still bears, a masterpiece of the intagliatore, or carver, Niccola Ricci (active 1848–1866). The frame’s opulence is evocative of the years 1864–71, during which Florence served as King Vittorio Emanuele II’s temporary capitol.