Masterpieces of art are a window on the past by studying them we encounter long gone eras through the artist sides. One subject in particular has always played a special role in the history of painting childhood. How has it changed the artists view of the child. From john folkways iconic graphic representation of jesus as an infant. To elizabeth vise liberals tender selfportrait with her beloved daughter. From a four lauren gaze of this girl selling flowers on the streets of london. To this image of a child when the painter felix fellow tar affords the freedom of turning its back on the viewer. From vandyke from diego of alaskas to renoir nero and picasso across europe from the middle ages to the Twentieth Century works by western masters reflect the changing status of the child through the ages. In the one nine hundred sixty nine public because so painted a child who appears to be staking his claim to existence overpowering the artist by snatching his brush. Here the child is more than the subject matter. In the painter and the child the child is a mess of it for the artist himself and the energy and independence of his vision. It took centuries of social change and generations of artists to attain this exuberant expression of freedom the story begins in the middle ages. In early sixteenth century europe only one child played a central role in painting the christ child. The infant jesus doesnt look like a newborn they were. Something mature and earnest about his demeanor. Medieval painters were not concerned with the lifelike portrayal their works was symbolic. As the son of god jesus carried within him his preordained destiny as the redeemer from his birth. Under the weight of this burden the child looks old beyond his years. But. This late medieval work dating from fourteen fifty six looks arresting the modern. Madonna surrounded by serafin and cherubim is a work by the french painter john fouquet. His bold use of red and blue for the angels was inspired by the vibrancy of colors filtering through Gothic Church windows. For the central mateen fouquet employed the pyramid a composition of italian renaissance painting the stark reduction of shapes and colors serves to underscore the divinity of mary and her child. In the middle ages children lived worked and died just like adults. Childhood was not perceived as a distinct and separate stage of human development. With the exception of the christ child paintings of children where. In italy during the renaissance the Catholic Church commission paintings designed to encourage the faithful to take basic care of abandoned children. Apart from representations of jesus paintings also featured the neediest of all children. While the girls a picture to the rise of the fit in the boys a place to the left indicating they perceived superiority. Of gods right hand there in the position of privilege. From now on iconographic tradition would dictate that important figures were placed on the left of a painting. The sun. Though the church still exerted a powerful influence on our two in france and sixteen forty artist tentatively began exploring secular subject matter. Painted joseph at work. His son jesus stands before him. Joseph is the central figure and that it is his son who holds the light. Because of this and despite his arduous labor the father of his his son symbolic protection. And its pared down beauty the painting underscores the importance of teaching a child a trade. In this work to lead to a pays tribute to the miracle of birth. His outstanding mastery of light and shadow lens the image an overwhelming sense of mystery. By the seventeenth century painting techniques have made significant advances. Plastered walls the wood panels were no longer the only surfaces used for painting canvas was easier to transport. And paintings which once depended on eggs or honey as binding agents was slowly replaced by oil paints. One hundred fifty years earlier placed dealer had drawn a selfportrait at the young age of thirteen the lines precise and accurate. It marked the beginning of a more lifelike put trail of children. As an adult made an important contribution to this Development Published a study of the anatomical proportions of a child. It was highly influential. Artists began depicting children who looked like children rather than miniature adults. In jersey or a new type of painting was born from the dynastic ambitions of european royal families. Jockeying to consolidate their power they commissioned family portraits to show off their errors. For ruling families such portraits were a way of advertising that they did it was sakia. Little because the third gonzaga the ruler of mantua is shown here with his family and course. Though he had to do it his it is his son who is at the center of the painting. The boy is an emblem of the future a guarantee of political stability. For centuries the christ child was the principal image of childhood in art the now a new era in painting began the era of royal children. Thanks. Across here up painters received commissions for the portraits of crown princes and princesses. War and peace was determined by the outcome of royal matchmaking. These images travelled from court to court as rulers sought the best Strategic Partners for their off spring. Fronts louis the fourteenth is just two years. Is not yet a rule but is depicted in the regal row. In his hand he holds daffodils like the septa he will brandish as king. In medieval depictions the burden of full knowledge was etched into the Christ Childs face in sixteen thirty nine the subject is also a child distant to assume tremendous responsibility but the paintings execution is more refined and the future ruler of france actually looks like a two year old. Aristocrats were just as keen to acquire portraits of their children throughout europe noble families commissioned work signaling dynastic continuity it was the dawn of the family portrait as an illustration of genealogy. Florence the count and countess. With their children. The son holds his father. In the late renaissance the first hint of tenderness. The girl six her mothers loving protection. Round. One. Increasingly portraits showed entire families in one room. In this painting the flemish artist can illustrate force widens the concept of family by adding a picture of both grandparents in the background at the paintings vanishing point. People in the eighteenth century often died Young Children rarely grew up knowing their grandparents. Read as the color of the aristocracy is ubiquitous in the garments the curtain even the furniture. Red underlines the familys noble lineage. Many women at the time died in childbirth their widow is often remarried creating launch blended families. With his second wife alone landgrave maurits of hester had fourteen children until the age of seven children were dressed in uni sex floor length. To differentiate between the sexes they were depicted holding symbolic objects weapons were considered masculine. Small dogs as a symbol of loyalty dolls flowers and fruit was seen as family and. Cherries were particularly symbolic of femininity and brimming with meaning. As fruits that ripen in the month of may the catholic month of mary theyre the epitome of chastity and purity. They are red the color of blood and they carry pits in the same way a girls womb may later carry a child. The flemish artist anton funday was employed at the english course he painted this portrait of charles the firsts eldest children in sixteen thirty seven. The boy said to continue the family lineage is the focus of the composition. He stressed entirely in red. His mescaline it and strength emphasised by his subjugation of a huge dog. In sixteen fifty six the Spanish Court painted Diego Velazquez created a masterpiece entitled last many. The painting harbors many secrets. At its center the five year old infantile margaret to reason at the time of its painting the only child of king philip and his second wife. The portrait underlines her maturity and suitability as a possible route to. The many knows her attendance of the children of eristic rats who serve the infanta as a sign of margarets power she is surrounded by a launch entourage. One of her maids is handing her small pitcher of perfumed water to sweeten the air around her. A large dog normally an attribute assigned to underscores the infanticide position of power. A young attendant provokes the master but it remains undisturbed a sign associating moderates with stability. Has added further evidence of the infant has lineage in the mirror image in the background hes included her parents in the scene king philip the fourth and his queen. The painter his of the seventeenth century had a wide array of symbols that their disposal to illustrate the vulnerability of a childs existence. Soap bubbles other best example there is reflecting the glory of the world for just one fleeting moment before vanishing forever. While leonard or divin she had tried to unlock the mysteries of human birth it was only the dawn of the enlightenment in the eighteenth century that enabled the dissemination of anatomical drawings and brought revolutionary advances in medicine. Everything possible was done to fight disease and death. Efforts that spurred a decline in child mortality. At long last parents couldnt bear to love their children because there was less chance of losing the. Queen mary and two minutes favorite portrait painter elizabeth was overwhelmed by maternal affection. She painted her daughter at every age. In the late eighteenth century family portraits became increasingly characterized by tender relationships between parents and their children. This painting by a mug of each adult entitled the first steps dates from this period. Its a reflection on the joys of watching children develop their curiosity their love of life their affection. For. Other artists painted family portraits in which the childs not yet an independent subject at least assumes its unique place within the tablo. Long repressed the image of the happy family is on full display in this painting by bit him to spy. The childs purity and innocence is accent too weighted by the image of the missing mother. And so by the end of the eighteenth century vienna like monk had ushered in a new era an era that marked the triumph of familial intimacy ideas on childhood informed the works of leading thinkers and philosophers like John Jacques Rousseau with his treatise on education in meal and johann both gong fine gurkhas vilhelm meister. The child was now viewed as an autonomous individual parents had a duty to provide a proper upbringing and education. In the early Nineteenth Century artist began freeing themselves from the dictates that governed portrait painting in the aristocratic salons and among the middle classes. A new child took center stage. The disadvantaged child. Peckman at play by henry paley pollack who was the First Painting of mine is to be exhibited at Londons Royal Academy of arts. Whats surprising about it is the game. A tribute to an undeniable urge of childhood which demands an outlets even in rough and dangerous living conditions. In class conscious france it was the year who elevated peasant children to the rank of socially acceptable subject matter. Eighteen sixty years painting feeding the young. The father is visible in the background working the field. But the focus is on the children. From a year old it is a universal experience timeless and years it already contains the seeds of aging a peasants life this hot. Nineteenth century europe was marked by famine and migration to the city of london a place of poverty and deprivation to survive homeless destitute orphans had no choice but to perform menial work artists adopted the street urchin as a subject. The french artist on the past painted this image of a flower vendor in london. The young go off his her roses to passers by. Naturally the flowers symbolize her youth and beauty. A stranger looms in the background watching her. This was the reality of daily life for londons abandoned children. In france a new revolution was brewing usia and other cause eighteen thirty masterpiece liberty leading the people introduces a new type of child into art. No longer a royal heir or the offspring of bush walked parents being touted as a status symbol nor despairing it is the child soldier. A child with the power to change the course of history. The tao is of not a damn place the scene in paris the faces i headed directly for the viewer creating an overpowering sense of immediacy. At the four of the pyramid like composition the allegory of liberty is personified by a young woman raising the republican flag. The bold colors stand out against the gray and brown tones of the rest of the painting intensifying the mood of patriotism. Among the cost of characters are two children the less conspicuous seen on the left clings to the piled up cobble stones the other more defined figure brandishes two cavalry pistols and oversized culture each pouch is slung over his shoulder but it doesnt stop him from advancing directly on the view it his own raised and ready for the fight. A few years later the french right evicted a goal gave this child a name in his novel. Governor bush. And the second half of the Nineteenth Century this new type of child preoccupied philosophers writers and artists across europe it was a little known child which artists now sought to flush out. Money explored the subject in detail. He features a child soldier in his eight hundred sixty six work the five play. Theres something absent in the childs eyes unsettling to the viewer. Its not the type of gaze we would normally expect from a child. Lonely suffocating beneath his uniform and from military discipline he appears robbed of his childhood. When photography emerged in the mid Nineteenth Century it imitated painting and what painting does best portraying people. Even appropriated tried and tested motifs the child. Of child. The working class child painters had no choice but to seek out new directions and themes of. Eight hundred seventy five claude moneys prominent mere hours on turkey is a blood trail of family life caught in an everyday moment. Money pursued a course diametrically opposed to photography contrary to its black and white images he employs brilliant color. And rather than the sharp contours of the photographic image he merely hints at outlines. He avoids rigid or static pounces. The softly undulating grass and shifting transience sunlights. Theres not a single detail in focus the entire scene isnt shimmering motion impressionism comes into its own. Eight hundred eighty two inspired by the rise of orientalism and painting and its focus on middle eastern north african and asian motifs. Painted a Young Parisian girl in algerian costume. The outfit unconventional pose and if usually of uplifting blues with accents of red and orange all strike an exuberant night. And happiness was what i was after to my mind he said a picture should be something pleasant cheerful and pretty yes pretty. Childhood was no longer a tragic subject. Impressionist painters emphasized childrens playful nature. Better movies or produced a series of portraits of her daughter capturing her at every stage in her childhood. Zilly may well be the most frequently painted child in the history of french arms. This picture shows her with her nanny. Rather than presenting a front of the year her mother paints her from the back. In the year eighteen eighty three this is an imaginative way of releasing the family portrait from its formal constraints. She grants the told a degree of freedom unthinkable and told them. Thank you thank you thank you. Prettiest with bravura brushstrokes in a matter of hours impressionists paintings market apart or from the studied poses of academic tradition. The intention is clear to capture childrens unpredictable spontaneous with their city. This scene with silly and have father reveals unusual family life. The impressionists introduced a new family from now on the child would gradually assume the place it has in family life today. Julie was young when her father died. A family friend painted her portrait. There is profound sadness in the girls expression. But also a glint of hope for the future. It was only at the end of the Nineteenth Century that children began to be portrayed as living through their own experiences and having their own feelings. The american painter mary cassatt belonged to the impressionist circle in paris. She too sore to catch of the ties that bind parents and little to. Traditional christian subject matter the madonna and child. But she added a new dimension by infusing her words with the spontaneity of love. Thirty years later the austrian painter Gustav Clement you know i said three generations in this painting that he calls the three ages of woman. The old womans face is hidden hippos is sorrowful. The presence feels tragic it serves as a reminder that it child is a being that is born blossoms and finally wilts away. As it entered the Twentieth Century the child up long last demanded to be recognized as an individual who deserves to be loved for the person he or she is. The American Society painted. Chancing a sergeant breathed new life into the depiction of children from privileged families. This painting from eight hundred eighty one has all the trappings of a classical portrait. It shows the son and daughter of the playwright and academy member. Its composition with the red curtains and traditional poses reflects their social standing but whats striking is the way the artist has allowed the childrens personalities to shine through their palpable exasperation marks the beginning of their emancipation. A seemingly endless number of nerve wrecking settings were required for the execution of the painting a painting which ultimately serves as an affirmation of a childs individuality. But the childs true liberation came in one thousand nine hundred nine with the swiss artist felix muller tones deeply symbolic painting the board. In a park a child chases after a red ball a snapshot of every day life and yet the painting harbors a profound message. The child runs from shadow into light with its a native hunger for freedom it pursues its own destiny. It is wondered far from the women in the background in the world of the child their adult presence is now of little importance. Almost twenty years later the parents and this painting by Milly Stinney also consigned to the backgrounds. The two young girls are playing with a toy time to sit and the parents are not part of the scene even if they are watching the children. They remove the lens the girls a degree of independence and empowerment. By the turn of the Twentieth Century children had gained freedom in art now artists were searching for they are a new generation of artists rejected academic conventional. Public picasso one miro pollack clay and others were inspired by the emotional rawness inherent in the drawings of children. During his explorations of childhood creativity picasso painted his daughter maya playing with a doll picasso sought to tap into his inventive inner child. After visiting an exhibition of childrens drawings he said it took me four years to paint like raphael but a lifetime to paint like a child. Play reduced the form of the child to its lowest common denominator a circle for the head to rings with the eyes and an equal sign for the mouth. It is reminiscent in its simplicity of a stick figure his roots go back to prehistoric. The spanish painter one was inspired by the childs subconscious mind. Played with characteristics of childrens drawings depicting a frontal view schematic spontaneous and with clumsily drawn lines. Began painting at the age of eight he was nearly fifty when he executed this painting of a mother and child in the style of a childs drawing just not the way a child would draw it. Takes this a step further in this painting from nine hundred fifty. Its title translates as blondie in the park of attraction is. This work is not a painting in the literal sense its a collage cats and pasted as if by a childs hand. It was made by the french artist in the one nine hundred sixty one and is untitled carrot no. Using just fall colors and reduced shapes the painter thumbs his nose but adds conventions. Less than a decade lies between the buffet is carrot nose and because says the painter and the child. After years of exploring childrens art because so its found what he was looking for. Its not the child who has become a painter its because his once again become a child. The painting is a double self portrait of a painter with two faces at once an artist and a child. The painter and the child marks the climax of a long evolution in the relationship between art and the child. What have both achieved if not their liberation. Art now freed from academic constraints to express new values and the child of knowledge does an individual with a unique personality. An individual with the right to be seen and heard. With the right to protection safety and above all love. Gay. Why do elephants need. Does a plastic bottle turn into a paving stone why do algae make it clear. The good idea can work in the winter and there are people developing Smart Solutions everywhere. Lets inspire each other the environment magazine to go at africa thirty minutes on t w. They live to surf. Danger lurks in the water we were there all year long surfing into waste and and polluted water not only being the witness but the time being victims i mean with you troubles all gastric troubles. Basically the ceaseless always moments in backup of the nation fold i was on a shelf. Is we just its sad to go somewhere every day and see more a man from issue time sort of assumed gives me everything with the waves the wind i have to give Something Back i can apply and just miss him too many of the others. Point waves surfers fighting against unseen pollution soon starting january seventh on t w. This is d. W. News live from berlin the u. S. Fire is the latest shot in the conflict and eastern ukraine. 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