Tassaert, a Parisian by birth, came from a family of Flemish origin that included several generations of artists. Following studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in the early 1820s, he focused on history painting and portraiture, eventually broadening his range of subjects to include religious and allegorical representations as well as scenes from the daily lives of the poor. Typically, these works are melodramatic and emotionally charged. Here, an angel appears to comfort a melancholy young mother as she tends her sick infant. Lucas noted a visit to an exhibition of Tassaert’s paintings in his Diary on January 30, 1886, and it is possible that he acquired this work at that time.