Hiram Powers based this figure on the allegorical character of Melancholy in John Milton’s 1862 poem Il Penseroso (The Thinker) but selected a female personification to show the light and dark of the melancholic state of mind. Best known for his elegant nudes, Powers admitted to having struggled with La Penserosa’s detailed drapery. He pursued the subject as a commission for New York philanthropist and art collector James Lenox, who was eager to have Powers render this theme.