King Carlo Emanuele IV of Sardinia (1751-1819) as a child greeted by his mother, the Infanta Maria Antonietta (1729-1785), the Alps beyond

Carlo Emanuele was raised in a highly religious household. His principal tutors included the Barnabite priest, and later cardinal, Don Giacinto Sigismondo Gerdil. Suffering from a weak consitution and frequently ill as a child it seems that the present picture represents the visit of his mother to a healthful monastic retreat. The influence of religion on the young prince remained strong through his life and in 1817, two years before his death, he became a Jesuit novice.