The duchess wears a red silk masquerade gown with a mother-of-pearl overskirt decorated with branch motifs and fur edging, under a red-and-gold coat that matches her whimsical headdress. Holding a black mask in her right hand, she stands in a gallery through which we see the sky and some trees that create a vanishing point while simultaneously allowing the artist to include some elements of official portraiture, such as the curtain and columns that allude to her royal status and virtues.

This work is thought to be a depiction of the young spouse of Charles, Duke of Berry, the third son of the Grand Dauphin of France, and thus the grandson of Louis XIC of France and brother of Philip V of Spain. Nonetheless, the identities of both its author and the sitter remain unclear. In 1960, Charagat pointed out the existence of five such works, attributed to Gobert and to Mignard. Moreover, besides the Duchess of Berry, it has been suggested that the figure may be Mademoiselle de Clermont (the superintendent of Queen Marie Lesczynska, Duchess of bouillon), Mademoiselle de Nantes, or Marguerite Bethume (the daughter of the Duke of Sully).

The portrait was saved from the 1734 fire at Madrid´s Alcazar Palace, and later moved to the Buen Retiro Palace in that same city.