Joshua Johnson numbers among the first recognized African-American painters. He enjoyed steady patronage at various local addresses listed by Baltimore City Directories from 1798 until 1824. Particularly gifted at painting young children, Johnson here captures a little girl of three, wearing a white dress, a coral necklace, and the signature red shoes that often appear in his work. The large, rather sinister moth in the painting resembles a Death’s-head Hawkmoth, raising the possibility that this is a posthumous portrait. The painting retains its original simply carved and lemon-gilt frame.