Full length life size. She sits in an arm-chair, on which both her arms are stretched out; she is turned to the left and looks in that direction. She holds a handkerchief in her right hand. She wears the black gown of a citizen’s wife, with a plain flat white collar and a white cap, covering her hair, which is smoothly combed back. Beside her to the left is a table with a Turkish carpet having a red pattern. Above the table a metal ring with a parrot hangs from a bracket fixed to the wall. In even daylight. Dark background.

The painting is unusual for a portrait as it features a pet. Catharina is looking at her pet parrot with a satisfied look that prompted Horst Gerson to remark that her lively commune with her pet bird would make an interesting subject for a book about Rembrandt and animals. The biography of Catharina Hooghsaet was written in 2014 and at the time the painting was made, she was aged 50 and living estranged from her husband.