This is a depiction of a guardian angel directing a child, by seventeenth-century painter, Matteo Loves.
The angel is depicted as a tall young man of about twenty years of age. He has white skin and shoulder-length, dark brown hair. He wears a white robe and a red cloak, which hangs from his right shoulder across his body. He has light brown wings.
The protector sits on a wooden box towards the right side of the painting. He looks down at the child while raising his right arm in the air, pointing his right index finger upwards. The angel’s left arm is laid on the child’s left arm. The angel’s robe is tucked up on his left side so that his left knee and lower leg are bare.
The child kneels on the ground in front of the angel so that his body is partly between the angel’s knees. The child appears to be about five years old. He has white skin and golden-brown curls. He wears a dark green robe that has mustard-yellow sleeves. The child’s body faces the left side of the painting. The child folds his hands, looking upwards in prayer.
The background of the painting is dark brown.
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Isabella Childs
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