This portrait was painted at the request of King Charles I of England, in whose collection it once hung. Lady Mary Villiers (1622-1685), the daughter of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, was one of the most intriguing individuals connected with the English court. She was raised in the royal household after her father was assassinated in 1628. At age fourteen, when this portrait was painted, she was already a widow of fifteen-year-old Charles, Lord Herbert of Shurland, who died of smallpox in 1636. The wedding had been arranged by the King to unite his court and country supporters. The intimacy of this portrait is remarkable due, perhaps, to the special rapport the artist had with his young sitter, whom he had known since at least 1633, and whose portrait he painted on several occasions.