Ana Rupene – also known as Ana Reupene Whetuki, Heeni Hirini and Heeni Phillips – was a woman of mana derived from her Ngāti Maru whakapapa and though her life dates are not recorded she lived and died at Manaia on the Coromandel Peninsula.

In 2007 Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū retitled their version of this portrait Ana Reupene Whetuki following information received from some of her direct descendants. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki were advised in 2011 by a different line of descendants that she should be known as Heeni Hirini and child. The National Library of Australia continues to refer to the portrait by its historical title Ana Rupene and child. For clarity in this text about the Canberra version the subject is referred to as Ana Rupene consequently.

The child on her back is remembered to have lived to be about 14 to18 years old. Hirini’s descendants reported that he had a prodigious ability to recite his whakapapa.

Ana Rupene is buried at Parakau, Manaia, in an unmarked grave in the Anglican churchyard.

Lindauer’s portrait is based on a photograph from the Foy Brothers studio in Thames. It is a seminal work and unquestionably the most popular of all Lindauer’s Māori portraits. As many as 30 versions are believed to exist, the earliest painted in 1878 (the year Lindauer was based in Thames) and the latest in 1920. An 1878 version was one of the 10 Lindauer paintings loaned by Henry Partridge for exhibition at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition – it was awarded a gold medal by an international jurors committee.

Lindauer’s painting differs slightly from the Foys’ photograph. The slightly reserved expression seen in the original image has been rendered more engagingly in the painting. In curving the shadow across the right side of Rupene’s face and emphasising the cheekbone, Lindauer suggests a smile. The same treatment is given to the child, with light shaping the scalp, nose and cheeks to impressive effect. The woven garment wrapped around the child was a conventional Māori way for mothers to carry their children securely.

Rupene’s hair appears dark, even glossy, and is cropped shorter around the left ear, revealing a piercing, from which a pounamu (greenstone) pendant is suspended on a thick black ribbon. The pendant sits atop the hukahuka (tassels) of her korowai (woven cloak). Hirini’s moko kauae (chin tattoo) appears a little darker and more prominent in the painting.