As indicated in the inscription in the top left corner of the work, the sitter is Jane Strange (1628-1706), the daughter of Robert Strange, and Lady Jocelyn after 1650, when she married Robert Jocelyn (1622-1712), the first Baron of Jocelyn since 1665 and Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1677-78.

The age and date detailed in that inscription were altered, possibly in the course of an old restoration. Based on the perfectly documented dates of birth and death of the sitter, instead of “AETAT 81: AD 1669” the inscription should read “AETAT 61: AD 1689,” an age more appropriate to the look of a woman that had given birth to nine sons and four daughters.

The figure is portrayed in half-body, three-quarters turned to the right but looking directly at the beholder. The sobriety of her black dress and her wide-brimmed and high-crowned hat is only broken by the elaborate , with matching cuffs and bonnet which tell us of the social prestige of the portrayed lady. The light on the energetic visage underscores its stern features and its markedly realistic rendering. With their stylised and delicately painted fingers, the woman’s hands rest on an open Bible, thus commenting on Lady Jocelyn’s strong religious convictions, a circumstance that would also explain her sober attire.

A portrait of remarkable quality, it could be the work of a Dutch painter living in England, something that was rather frequent in the 17th century given the important trade links between the two powers and the excellent reputation of Dutch painting among the English aristocracy and bourgeoisie, a situation that ensured a good market for them.

As is customary in Dutch portraits, the influence of the realism of the School of Utrecht and of Caravaggio (1571-1610) are evident, at a time when austere, noble and distinguished portraits were very much in fashion, in tune with those painted by Antonis Mor (1517-1576), Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) and Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670), and a genre that spread to all European courts in the 17th century.