A woman with dark hair and a pale complexion sits at the center of a richly decorated golden field, her gaze directed outward and her lips painted a deep red. Her head is framed by an intricate halo of swirling patterns and geometric shapes in gold, silver, and black, with accents of white and blue. She wears a high-necked, ornamented collar and a gown covered in elaborate, repeating motifs of eyes, triangles, rectangles, and spirals, rendered in gold leaf and highlighted with touches of silver and blue.

Her right hand rests gently on the top of her left hand, which lies across her chest, and both hands are adorned with jewelry, including a bracelet and a ring. The background is a shimmering expanse of gold, interrupted by small silver rectangles and a band of black-and-white checks along the bottom left edge, above a patch of green. The surface of the painting is highly textured, with visible gold leaf creating a luminous effect and a sense of depth throughout the composition.

The composition places the figure in a frontal pose, her form almost merging with the decorative patterns that surround her, emphasizing both her presence and the luxuriant surface. Clusters of circular and oval shapes, some filled with concentric rings and others with checkerboard patterns, form a dense decorative area behind the woman's shoulders and upper arms. The lower right corner of the painting contains a signature and date in dark paint, set within a small rectangular panel outlined in gold.

A patch of vivid green occupies the bottom left corner, contrasting with the dominant gold and echoing the band of black-and-white checks above it. Light falls most strongly on the woman's face and hands, creating subtle shadows under her chin and along her fingers, while the gold background reflects a diffuse, even glow throughout the composition. This work is associated with the Art Nouveau movement and depicts Adele Bloch-Bauer, a woman.