This sculpture of the writer, Maria de Castro Henriques Oswald (Porto 1893-1988), reflects the connection that is often made between sculptors and intellectuals, an aspect that is highly evident in the Soares dos Reis National Museum sculpture collection. Such a relationship had a special meaning in the work of Irene Vilar, as is clear in her depictions of poets, among them Fernando Pessoa, Florbela Espanca and Cesário Verde.
This portrait of Maria Oswald belongs to an early phase in which Irene Vilar finished the Sculpture course at the Porto School of Fine Arts, where she was a pupil of the master, Barata Feyo.