Thérèse was the sister of Edward Degas and was married to her first cousin Edmondo. The portrait was probably painted around 1865 when they visited Degas in Paris (Degas didn’t sell his family portraits but kept them in his private collection – they are not dated). At that time the couple was married for two years and had already lost a baby. The wat they are portraited is interesting; as Degas put his sister behind her husband (literary in his shadow) looking worried, her hand barely visible resting on his shoulder. Her husband, on the other hand, looks self-assured. For me it’s one of those paintings that grows on you, the more you look at it.