Isabella Saltonstall as Una in Spenser's 'Faerie Queene'

Executed in oil on canvas, the painting showcases Stubbs’ meticulous anatomical observation, evident in the detailed rendering of the lion’s musculature and the delicate folds of the woman’s veil. The landscape is treated with a restrained palette, allowing the figures to emerge with clarity, a hallmark of Stubbs’ transition toward the Romantic emphasis on natural realism.

Created in 1792, the work was commissioned for the Fitzwilliam Museum, where it remains part of the collection. Stubbs, largely self‑taught, had by this time expanded from animal studies to historical and portrait subjects, reflecting his evolving reputation within the English art world of the late eighteenth century.

While Stubbs is best known for his equine studies, this painting illustrates his broader engagement with literary themes and allegorical portraiture. The inclusion of both a lion and a donkey anticipates the Romantic fascination with the sublime and the pastoral, situating the work within the shifting aesthetic currents of the period.