William Rimmer was a man of many talents. He was a painter and a sculptor who taught anatomy to artists, practiced medicine, and wrote drawing manuals. His interest in science (and pseudo-science) might help explain the strangeness of this painting. Most of the room is hazy and soft, but the woman is strongly outlined and painted in more saturated colors. Rimmer erroneously believed that a person’s physical traits indicated their place in an evolutionary hierarchy. The dark line defining the woman’s profile accentuates her features, which conform to his ideals of the highest beauty.