A crouching child crowned in gilded gold turns to fix the viewer with a heavy, watchful stare, the small body rendered in warm flesh tones against a soft grey-green ground. Pavel Filin plays the innocence of the pose against the weight of the crown and the shadowed, almost bruised eyes, giving this original oil painting an unsettling, allegorical charge. The loose, atmospheric brushwork keeps the mood ambiguous rather than sentimental.