Described by art critic John Russell Taylor as ‘one of the most original and accomplished of all the Art Nouveau book artists in Britain’, Jessie M. King developed a distinctive style influenced by Edward Burne-Jones, Aubrey Beardsley and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Her long and peripatetic career began in her native Glasgow, where she was an important contributor to the circle around Mackintosh, developing what subsequently became known as the Glasgow Style.

This exquisite drawing was King's design for the frontispiece of L'Evangile de l'Enfance (The Gospel of the Childhood), for which she also designed the binding and illustrations in c. 1902. The book was selected for the Scottish Section of the 1902 International Exhibition of Decorative Art in Turin, which was organised by Fra Newbery (then director of The Glasgow School of Art) and Mackintosh. For the binding King chose a striking Art Nouveau design tooled in gilt on white vellum which won her the coveted Gold Medal. This success brought King a raft of publicity and commissions as articles about her work appeared in art journals around Europe.

The image represents the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. Haloes of heavenly light create a vision of Mary as the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" from the Book of Revelations (12:1). This Annunciation-like scene is executed with such creative and symbolic power, yet there is a delicacy and a sense of absolute reverence. John Russell Taylor said of her work, ‘The images she conjures up ... [are] not quite like anything else in Art, and once entered, never wholly escaped from’.

King's symbolic and abstract approach to religious themes was already evident in the early stages of her career. By 1899 her work was gaining significant attention, with her designs appearing in exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and publications like The Studio. Her personal evolution as an artist during this period involved increasingly abstract and stylised forms, as seen in her later works where figural representation gave way to intricate ornamentation. The frontispiece for L'Evangile de l'Enfance exemplifies this shift, with its symmetrical arrangement and fine detailing that incorporates Indian ink lines and dot work. It reflects the influences of both continental and Scottish artists, but also showcases King's unique ability to capture both the spiritual and the fantastical within the same composition.