Stood behind her, with a hand on the back of the Queen's chair and her head bowed down towards her is one of the ladies-in-waiting; another is seated across the table facing away from the viewer, dressed in green and playing a lute. Three other female figures occupy the shadowy background: one is stood before a large piece of furniture to the right; a second is seated at an embroidery frame in the centre of the composition as the third leans down towards her, their heads almost touching. To the left of the composition is a third male figure, standing at the entranceway to the room, holding aside the heavy curtains covering it. In the background is a large figurative and landscape painting in a heavy frame occupying the entire wall. The nautilus shell cup with sliver gilt mounts on the table is an identifiable object from the Royal Collection, probably copied from an engraving: it was made by Nikolaus Schmidt, Nuremberg, in the late sixteenth century.