The painting is one of Piccio’s masterpieces, and among the most memorable images of nineteenth-century Italian painting. Countess Anastasia Spini, a member of the low provincial nobility, is sitting comfortably in a leatherupholstered armchair holding a pinch of snuff between her fingers. She seems to have broken off reading the prayer book resting on the table, and is observing us with a resigned, mild gaze that the artist depicts with disarming impudence