In looking at the beautiful child on the swing in the picture entitled
"Butterflies," by Kate Perugini, one at first receives the impression
that the painter wanted to give us a "thing of beauty," without any
other suggestion of childish amusement but the swing. Indeed, the
title might well have been "Three Butterflies," for the child in the
graceful dress, patterned as richly as the insects' wings, is as much a
butterfly as the other two. But there is a further idea in the picture
than that. Look once more. The little toe is aiming to touch the
butterfly whilst it passes; the intent expression on the childish face
shows that all her attention is concentrated on this one achievement.
This is a very subtle illustration of the fact that children seldom
enjoy a planless physical movement. Their little minds are constantly
working for their own small aims and so developing for bigger ones.
Of the pictures in the medallions on this page, that on the left is
from Sir Joshua Reynolds's painting entitled "The Angelic Child." It
requires no saying that Sir Joshua's studies of children are among the
most charming that ever came from the brush of a painter. The upper
right-hand medallion is from Bartolozzi's picture called "Merit," while
the remaining one is a painting named "A Boy with an Anchor," by the
Italian artist, Cipriani.
[Illustration]