This is no ordinary child portrait, but a devotional portrait: the small boy is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who will protect him forever. The child is wearing a blue dress and is holding a heart. Infants who were dedicated to Mary often wore blue clothing. Blue, the colour of Mary, stands for devotion. The heart in his hand symbolizes gratitude for her protection. The child gives his heart, and therefore himself, to Mary. Most devotional portraits of children also show Mary herself with the Infant Jesus, often in a cloud to emphasize the supernatural character of her protection. This is not the case here. Instead, the artist Matthias de Visch opted for Mary’s monogram, the intertwined letters M and R, on the right of the painting. The boy is Joseph Van Huerne, the youngest child of Aybert-Joseph Van Huerne. The family’s coat of arms appears top left.