This portrait depicts Eva Maria Veigel (also known as Violetti, 1725-1822), a Viennese dancer who performed with the Italian Opera Company at the King’s Theatre in London. Following her marriage to the actor David Garrick (1717-1779), Veigel gave up performing but continued to entertain London’s high society. It was painted by Katherine Read (1723-1778), a Scottish artist who enjoyed considerable fame during her lifetime as a painter in pastel, oils, and miniature. Read travelled extensively and worked in Paris, Rome, Florence, and Venice – where she was instructed by the pioneer of pastel painting, Rosalba Carriera – before setting up a successful studio in London. She received commissions from other artists, members of high society, and even Queen Charlotte herself. Read exhibited at the Free Society and the Society of Artists during the 1760s along with Mary Benwell and Mary Black (a response to the Royal Academy’s appointment of Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moster), and later moved from the Society to the Royal Academy. In 1775, the artist decided to travel to India with her niece and fellow artist Helena Beatson. She continued to paint and draw in Madras, but few of these works survive today. A testament to her skill, Read became known as the ’Rosalba of Britain’ and she was frequently celebrated in contemporary accounts and newspaper articles.