Anthony van Dyck
The Balbi Children c 1625-1627
This painting of three young aristocratic boys groomed for adulthood stand in front of architectual marble steps and fluted columns symbolising education, proper behaviour and an understanding of what the future holds for them

Anthony van Dyke
Maddalena Cattaneo 1623
Set against a back drop of marble steps, towering pilaster and red velvet cushion and gold tassels we are in no doubt that Maddalena comes from a very aristocratic background. She stands stiff and uncomfortable in her clothes not understanding why she is there, but with the picture full of symbolism we can see her destiny in continuing the dynastic line.

Thomas Gainsborough
The Painter's Two Daughters c. 1758
Gainsborough freed from restraints imposed by commission, documents a father's loving look at his growing daughters.

Angelica Kauffman
Henrietta Laura Pulteney c 1777
Henrietta Pulteney was reared in the manner of Jean Jacques Rousseau who thought girls should have 'ample opportunities for activites, races. and games in the open air and in the garden.' Kauffman shows Henrietta Pulteney outside, free of adults, but also portrays her reminiscent of an Arcadian nymph, a popular style during this period.

Francis Cotes
Lewis Cage ('The Young Cricketer') 1768
Against a dramatic sky Lewis Cage stands before the viewer full of self-confidence, with one hand on his hip and the other on his cricket bat he is mimicking the pose of a military commander. Cotes picture was painted six years after the publicationof Rousseau's 'Emile' where he stressed the importance of the outdoor life and games.

Joshua Reynolds
Miss Crewe c. 1775
The painting of Frances Crewe probably remained unfinished owing to the little girl's death before it could be completed. Reynold's was exceptional as a painter of children which can be seen in this portrait of the little girl who stands self-confidant smiling down on the viewer in her fancy dress outfit of a strawberry seller.

Thomas Gainsborough
Master John Truman-Villebois and his brother Henry c. 1783
The architecture is very reminiscent of van Dyck in his painting of The Balbi Children (above) but Gainsborough has captured the boys not posing in front of the columns but sitting and playing on the steps. They have freed themselves from adult expectations and are caught in a snap shot of time engrossed in their game of cards.

Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun
Maria Christina de Bourbon-Naples c. 1790
Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun was an extremely successful court painter to Marie Antoinette. Here she captures Maria Christina in a garden cutting roses. The sitter looks like she is sitting in an English garden, European artists were heavily influenced on the new way children were being portrayed in England.

Jens Juel
A Running Boy (Marcus Pauli Karenus Holst von Schmidten) 1802
A young boy is late for school on the outskirts of Copenhagen. A school where physical education played a central role and can be seen with sports equipment in the background, in accordance with the writings of John Locke. Jens Juel used the English tradition of portraiture to capture this young boy.

William Beechey
Portrait of Sir Francis Ford's Children giving a coin to a Begger Boy c. 1793
This artistic style was known as 'fancy painting', a highly romanticised idea of poverty. Here we have two children from a privileged background giving a coin to a young boy who has not been so lucky. John Locke emphasised compasion as an essential moral value and this can be seen in this painting

Henry Raeburn
James and John Lee Allen (The Allen Brothers) c 1790
Henry Raeburn has caught these two young boys absorbed in their own world, free from the demands of adult life and enjoying their own magical world.

Thomas Lawrence
The Children of Lord George Cavendish 1790
The symmetrical composition with the two brothers either side their sister shows the different age groups but also their different personalities. From the seriousness of the older brother to the more childlike qualities of the younger brother and sister.