Oil on canvas, 198.1cm by 144.8cm.
Matthew Peters was an English portrait and genre painter, who became a clergyman and chaplain to George IV. He also painted religious works and conceived this painting soon after his ordination in 1782-3. The angel is represented by Mary Isabella Somerset, daughter of the Duke of Beaufort and wife of Charles, 4th Duke of Rutland, a patron of Peters. The child is represented by Charlotte, daughter of Thomas, Ist Baron Dundas.
