Sublime portraits of children reveal evolving notions of innocence

Children in portraits were first depicted only as tiny adults, little devils, or props to their parents’ ambition. In The Guardian, Antonia Fraser charts the evolution from brats to innocents as art reflected changing attitudes to childhood throughout Europe “Fifty years after Montaigne, a neighbour reassured a woman who had recently given birth to her fifth ‘little brat’ in the following, seemingly callous, words: ‘Don’t worry. Before they are old enough to bother you, you will have lost half of them, or perhaps all of them.'”Read more.
“The Changing Face of Childhood: British Children’s Portraits and Their Influence in Europe,” Dulwich Picture Gallery, London. From August 1 to November 4.