From the film-maker:

The painting first drew me because of the ghostly appearance of the Countess. It seemed almost as if she glowed with a strange white light. I later read about the painting and learned the reason for this phenomenon was that the colours used for the skin tones had faded over time.

I was also very impressed with her bearing, she seemed a woman who gone through a lot but had not lost her poise or strength of character; this was proven later when I read about the tragic story of her marriage. Her husband who had passed away two years prior to the making of the painting had gambled away the family fortune. Sir Joshua Reynolds work was never paid for. I found that it was quite likely that Sir Reynolds was aware of such a possibility even as he was making the painting as he was friends with the Countess’ son. Overall it is the reality of the woman in the painting, the facts of her life that struck me most, but it is only her image at the National Gallery that remains of this real person.

Fyodor Druzin

A piece inspired by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Anne, 2nd Countess of Albemarle,about 1760