Eva Mudocci (1883-1953), was a famous British violinist whose real name was Evangeline Hope Muddock - but like many British musicians, she felt that a more continental-sounding name would be more helpful for her career. Edvard Munch met her in Paris in 1903, and entered into an intimate love affair with her that later became friendship.
In 1903, he produced a total of three lithographs in which Munch portrayed Mudocci: "The Violin Concert" (together with Bella Edwards), "Salome", and the present work "The Brooch. Eva Mudocci."
Munch himself named the lithograph "Madonna" and "Madonna with Brooch," echoing the Madonna motif from the 1890s. Mudocci became an ideal figure and muse for the artist, and this portrait, with its lyrical atmosphere and musical rhythms, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful of Munch's numerous portraits of women.