Louise-Adèle Taschereau, a member of one of the most illustrious families of jurists in Canadian history, was in her twenties when she died in 1849. In this posthumous portrait, her face is serene and placid, perhaps even prim, considering the somewhat daring decolleté for the period in Canada. The composition recalls certain daguerreotypes and ambrotypes from a pivotal time when painting and photography were competitors.