Antoine Joseph Wiertz was a Belgian romantic painter and sculptor. Born in Dinant, he entered the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts in 1820. Between November 1829 and May 1832, he stayed in Paris, where he studied the old masters at the Louvre. In 1828, Wiertz came out second in the prestigious Prix de Rome competition, which he attained on his second attempt in 1832. It allowed him to start a study stay at the French Academy in Rome, where he resided from May 1834 until February 1837. Upon his return, he went to live and work in Liège. From 1845 he settled permanently in Brussels. Wiertz monumental, even colossal history paintings with swirling compositions betray the style influence of the baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. For his muscular, (semi)naked men, he certainly looked at Michelangelo. In addition to moving, heroic and romantic history paintings, Wiertz also painted primarily neoclassical portraits. We also find a specific linear approach in this portrait of a mother and her child. The use of colour is calm and balanced. The heavy green velvet curtain suggests depth. The mother looks slyly at the viewer while the child seeks his mother’s attention. The lady wears a Biedermeier-style dress with 'gigots' or puffed sleeves that narrow towards the bottom. Her financial prosperity is evident, among other things, from the collar that may have been made in lace from Mechelen or Valenciennes. The hairstyle is typical of the Romantic period, where women's hair has a clear dividing line in the middle.