Portrait of a Young Boy

This portrait represents a young boy dressed in a brown coat with a blue waistcoat. It is a characteristic example of child portraiture, the genre in which Hone excelled. The young boy sits on a chair, one arm resting on its top as if he has been posed slightly against his will. This apparent reticence is, however, belied by his confident and expressive engagement directly with the painter whom he faces, and so with the viewer. The intimacy of the painting suggests that it is of a family member.