Zeferina was a very important figure in black Brazilian history.

Even when talking about the presence of black figures in Art History, it is most of the about male figures. For Zeferina, we see that she I placed in the pose similar to those seen in classical portraiture with the use of a chair and her hand placement on it. However, these portraits were usually of the wealthy white population. Most of the time, the wealthy bourgeois class was portrayed in this way with the sitter sitting in the chair and at times slaves standing in the background as a display of wealth and power. In this work, Dalton removed the sitter completely, and makes Zeferina the main figure in the work. Dalton erases the presence of the rich white figure and places the black figure as the main aspect of the portrait.

There is a lot of symbolism in the details. For example, the head of the umbrella is vert sophisticated and not available for black people at the time. Dalton also paint Zeferina with shoes on, which slaves did not have at the time. When black men and women purchased shoes at the time, it showed a change in their hierarchical position in society.