  We have obtained with the SUSI CCD camera on the ESO 3.5m NTT deep images in
the BVRI bands of the field centered on the QSO BRI 1202-0725 ($z_{\it
em}=4.694$). In the final combined frames the stellar images have FWHM of
1,1,0.6 and 0.65 arcsec respectively. The R and I images show clearly a galaxy
$2.2''$ from the QSO, corresponding to $13h^{-1}_{50}$ kpc at $z\sim 4.5$.
Possible identification with the metal absorption systems seen in the line of
sight to the QSO, including the highest redshift damped system known to date at
$z=4.383$, are discussed. We conclude that its colours can be reconciled only
with the spectrum of a primeval galaxy at z >~ 4.4, making it the most distant
galaxy detected so far. From its magnitudes and models of young galaxy
evolution we deduce that it is forming stars at a rate $\sim 30 M_{\odot}$
yr$^{-1}$ and has an estimated age of the order of $10^8$ yr or less, implying
that the bulk of the stellar population formed at $z < 6$.
