The drawing depicts Tomiris, the queen of the Massagetae, a Central Asian nomadic confederation. She is known for defeating Cyrus the Great of Persia after he attempted to invade her territory. According to Herodotus, when Cyrus killed her son through trickery, Tomiris led her army to victory and killed Cyrus in battle, famously submerging his head in a wineskin filled with blood to fulfill her vow of vengeance.