Manson modestly turns away from us in this self-portrait, but he still tells us a great deal about himself. Aged about nineteen and just emerging as a professional artist in Scotland, his smooth skin gives away his youth while his intense gaze alludes to the powers of observation that have allowed him so precisely to trace the contours of his profile, and the minute gradations of tone through his hair. The air of pensive melancholy in this picture carries through into the depictions of cottage children, which hang on each side of the fireplace. His works were greatly admired for this quality in the period after his early death from consumption.
A partially-legible inscription on this Dutch portrait identifies the date of the picture and the age of the child, but not the sitter. All children of this age wore skirts although this figure is identified as a boy by the gold medal attached to his waist. The placid sheep and wild flowers, which grow almost as tall as the boy himself, allude to the Arcadian realm of simplicity and innocence with which wealthy patrons were often keen to associate their offspring. The worn paint surface makes identifying the artist difficult, although it has been attributed to Cesar van Everdingen and the young Aelbert Cuyp, who both produced comparable works.
