Denis was a deeply religious Catholic who was influenced by early Renaissance painting which he studied in Italy in 1895, particularly the religious frescoes of Florence and Rome, and early prayer sheets and manuscripts. He considered it his true mission to revitalize Christian art, and he eventually became the major religious painter of his time, illustrating the apse of the cathedral of Saint-Esprit in Paris in 1934 among other commissions. One can see, however, that Denis fully succeeds as a religious painter when the Christian stories are rooted in deeply felt personal experience such as in Mother and Child. 

Many such experiences were shared between Denis and his wife Marthe Meunier, whom he married in 1893. Until her death in 1919 she was his muse and model. Denis made many portraits of Marthe and the couple's children, often dressed in Breton costumes and often evoking a Biblical scene. In an oil painting of 1894 called La Visitation, Marthe, who was pregnant with her first child, posed as the Virgin Mary in the trellised garden of their home. Denis's style during his early Symbolist period was decorative, fused religious subject matter with the painting style of his hero, Gauguin. To this he added the influence of Japanese art, with its decorative patterns, delicate line, and flat planes. The simplification of form present in Mother and Child, including curving rhythms of dress and posture, demonstrate the artist's understanding of Japanese art. Denis's suite of twelve lithographs, called L'Amour, was inspired by entries in his journal which were written at the time of his betrothal. In the prints he displayed his distinctive lyrical style, his soft palette, and his dedication to sacred subjects. 

Lee Inman (1999)