Arriving in Baltimore sometime during the mid-1840s, Hans Heinrich Bebie became one of the most sought-after portraitists in the city. Here, he depicted the children of William Henry Heald III (c. 1819 – 1882), a prominent Baltimore merchant and partner in a family tannery. The park-like setting, the carefully detailed fashions, and the childhood accessories (in this case, an illustrated book and a hoop-and-stick) are typical of Bebie’s portraits of children. They are, from left to right, Mary Elizabeth (1851 – 1935), Emma Eliza (1845 –1920), and James Allen (1849 – 1889). The painting retains its original elaborately ornamented frame.