A middle-aged lady with botany as her main interest sits at a small table with two tweezers and small scissors for studying the roses in the foreground. A great deal indicates that this is Madame Dugage. She and came to Paris in 1775 for tuition from the botanist Jussieu. When the portrait was painted, she was 45 years old and became the assistant of André Thouin, head gardener of the Jardin des Plantes.