Painters working in the Hudson River Valley in the colonial period produced a sizable and impressive body of work that includes many portraits of wealthy Dutch patrons and their families. Nearly all of these paintings are unsigned, and few documents remain from the period to suggest the identities of the artists. Although this artist has never been conclusively identified, the "de Peyster" style is evident in the portrait of Maria Maytilda Winkler and the style of her dress and appearance.

Although Maria was of Dutch origin, the model for her posture and attributes was English. This painter used an English portrait print as his source material, but he used some invention in the way Maria turns her head and the depiction of the park-like setting. The rest of the painting features elements copied from the English print, such as the garland she holds and the lamb that nuzzles sweetly against her. Such visual quotations were common practice among artists in the New World at the time.