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[Illustration: THE SISTINE MADONNA.--RAPHAEL.]
CHILD-LIFE IN ART
BY
ESTELLE M. HURLL, M.A.
Illustrated
Children are God's apostles, day by day
Sent forth to preach of love and hope and peace.
LOWELL.
BOSTON
JOSEPH KNIGHT COMPANY
1895
_Copyright, 1894,_
BY JOSEPH KNIGHT COMPANY.
University Press:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
PREFACE.
The subject of this little book is its best claim upon public favor.
Child-life in every form appeals with singular force to the sympathies
of all. In palace and in cottage, in the city and in the country,
childhood reigns supreme by the divine right of love. No monarch rules
more mightily than the infant sovereign in the Kingdom of Home, and none
more beneficently. His advent brings a bit of heaven into our midst, and
we become more gentle and tender for the sacred influence. Every phase
of the growing young life is beautiful and interesting to us. Every new
mood awakens in us a sense of awe before unfolding possibilities for
good or evil.
The poetry of childhood is full of attractiveness to the artist,
and many and varied are the forms in which he interprets it. The
Christ-child has been his highest ideal. All that human imagination
could conceive of innocence and purity and divine loveliness has been
shown forth in the delineation of the Babe of Bethlehem. The influence
of such art has made itself felt upon all child pictures. It matters not
whether the subject be a prince or a street-waif; the true artist sees
in him something which is lovable and winning, and transfers it to his
canvas for our lasting pleasure.
Art has produced so many representations of children that it would be a
hopeless task to attempt a complete enumeration of them, and the book
makes no pretensions to exhaustiveness. The aim has been merely to
suggest a convenient outline of classification, and to describe a few
characteristic examples in each group. The nature of the undertaking
has, of course, necessitated consulting the works of many standard
authorities, to whom I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness. The names
of the most prominent are included in the bibliographical list. While
faithfully studying their opinions, I have always reserved the right of
forming an independent estimate of any painting considered, especially
when, as in many cases, I have myself seen the original. I am under
great obligations to my friend Professor Anne Eugenia Morgan of
Wellesley for first showing me, through her philosophical
art-interpretations, the true meaning and value of the works of
the masters. From these interpretations I have drawn many of the
suggestions which are embodied in the descriptions of the following
pages.
While addressing lovers of children primarily, I have also hoped to
interest students in the history of art. I have therefore added a few
notes containing further details in regard to some of the subjects.
E. M. H.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS., June 1, 1894.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. CHILDHOOD IN IDEAL TYPES 3
II. CHILDREN BORN TO THE PURPLE 29
III. THE CHILDREN OF FIELD AND VILLAGE 57
IV. THE CHILD-LIFE OF THE STREETS 87
V. CHILD-ANGELS 115
VI. THE CHRIST-CHILD 141
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
SISTINE MADONNA Raphael _Frontispiece_
THE STRAWBERRY GIRL Reynolds 7
PENELOPE BOOTHBY Reynolds 15
ANGEL HEADS Reynolds 19
_From the original painting in the National Gallery, London._
NATURE Lawrence 23
PORTRAIT OF PRINCE JAMES, DUKE OF YORK Van Dyck 33
_From a painting in San Luca, Rome, after the Turin portrait
by Van Dyck._
PORTRAIT OF PRINCESS MARY STUART AND
PRINCE WILLIAM II. OF ORANGE Van Dyck 39
_From the original painting in Amsterdam._
PORTRAIT OF THE INFANTA MARIA THERESA Velasquez 45
_From the original painting in the Prado, Madrid._
PORTRAIT OF THE INFANTA MARGUERITE Velasquez 49
_From the original painting in the Louvre, Paris._
RUSTIC CHILDREN Gainsborough 59
LA CRUCHE CASSEE (The Broken Pitcher) Greuze 71
_From the original painting in the Louvre, Paris._
CHILD'S HEAD Bouguereau 77
THE LITTLE RABBIT SELLER Meyer von Bremen 81
BEGGAR BOYS Murillo 89
_From the original painting in the Pinacothek, Munich._
STREET ARABS Dorothy Tennant Stanley 98
THE MEETING Marie Bashkirtseff 103
_From the original painting in the Luxembourg, Paris._
CASTLES IN SPAIN J. G. Brown 107
GROUP OF ANGELS. From the Assumption Titian 119
_From the original painting in the Academy, Venice._
PIPING ANGEL. Detail of Frari Madonna Bellini 127
_From the original painting in Venice._
ANGEL. From Madonna and Child Luigi Vivarini 131
_From the original painting in the Church of Redentore, Venice._
ANGEL. From the Vision of Saint Bernard Filippino Lippi 135
_From the original painting in the Badia, Florence._
MADONNA OF THE CASA TEMPI Raphael 147
INFANT JESUS AND SAINT JOHN Boucher 155
_From the original painting in the Uffizi, Florence._
THE CHRIST-CHILD Deger 159
HEAD OF BOY CHRIST Hofmann 163
_Detail of Christ Disputing with the Doctors._
* * * * *
I.
CHILDHOOD IN IDEAL TYPES.
O child! O new-born denizen
Of life's great city! on thy head
The glory of the morn is shed,
Like a celestial benison!
Here at the portal thou dost stand,
And with thy little hand
Thou openest the mysterious gate
Into the future's undiscovered land.
LONGFELLOW.
CHILD-LIFE IN ART.
CHAPTER I.
CHILDHOOD IN IDEAL TYPES.
If we could gather into one great gallery all the paintings of
child-life which the world has ever produced, there would be scattered
here and there some few works of a distinctly unique character, before
which we should rest so completely satisfied that we should quite forget
to look at any others. These choice gems are the work of those rare men
of genius who, looking beyond all trivial circumstances and individual
peculiarities, discovered the essential secrets of child-life, and
embodied them in ideal types. They are pictures of _childhood_, rather
than of _children_, representing those phases of thought and emotion
which are peculiar to the child as such, and which all children possess
in common. In their presence every mother spontaneously exclaims, "How
like my own little one!" because the artist has interpreted the real
child nature. Such pictures may justly take rank among the highest
productions of creative art, having proven their claim to greatness by
their unquestioned appeal to universal admiration.
In work of this kind one name alone is prominent, a name which England
is proud to claim as hers, but to which all the world pays honor,--the
name of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Prince of Child-painters. A simple-hearted
man, of sweet, kindly disposition, the great portrait-painter, bachelor
though he was, possessed in rare measure the mysterious gift of winning
the confidence of children. The great octagonal studio in Leicester
Square must have often resounded to the laughter of childish voices, as
he entertained his little patrons with the pet dogs and birds he used in
their portraits, and coaxed them into good nature with a thousand merry
tricks. Although the greater number of these little people belonged to
the most wealthy and aristocratic families in England, their pictures
do not in any way indicate their rank. Still less do they show any
distinguishing marks of the artificial age in which they lived. Dressed
in the simplest of costumes, of the sort which is never out of fashion
and always in the best taste, and posed in the natural attitudes of
unconscious grace, they are representatives of childhood, pure and
simple, rather than of any particular social class or historical period.
A list of Sir Joshua's child pictures may suitably begin with one
which, in his own opinion, is among the best and most original of all
his works. This is the Strawberry Girl, exhibited in 1773, and repeated
many times by the painter,--"not so much for the sake of profit," as
Northcote explains, "as for improvement." The model was the artist's
pretty niece, Miss Theophila ("Offy") Palmer, who was named for his
mother, and whom he loved as an own daughter.
The little girl stands with head slightly drooping, in the sweet, shy
way so natural to a timid child. The big eyes are lifted to ours half
confidingly, half timidly, while a smile hovers bewitchingly over the
mouth. A long, pointed basket hangs on one arm, and the plump hands are
folded together in front like a little woman's. The child wears a
curious round cap on her head, under which, presumably, her hair is
gathered up in womanly fashion, for there are no stray locks to be
seen except the two soft curves on the forehead. Altogether, the figure
presents just that odd commingling of dignity with childish timidity
which we so often notice in our own little maids, and which makes them
at once so lovable and so womanly.
[Illustration: THE STRAWBERRY GIRL.--REYNOLDS.]
Some fifteen years after Sir Joshua's niece posed as the Strawberry
Girl, her own little daughter, another "Offy," served the artist uncle
as the model for Simplicity. The great-niece was as lovely a child as
her mother had been, and critics agree in placing Simplicity among the
best works of the painter. The setting is a landscape, in the foreground
of which the child is seated, with her lap full of flowers. The sweet
face is turned aside in a somewhat pensive poise, and the exquisite
purity of its expression is exactly represented by the title. Of a
similar character is the Age of Innocence, which portrays a little girl
looking out into the world with wide eyes and parted lips, a complete
embodiment of the innocence of childhood on the threshold of life. The
face, which is presented in profile, is finely cut, and charmingly
framed in short, clustering curls.
In looking for ideal types among the child-pictures of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, we need by no means be confined to those which bear fancy
titles. His portraits are as truly interpretative as his imaginative
subjects, and each typifies a distinct element of child-life. The little
Miss Bowles sitting on the ground hugging her dog, and Master Bunbury
looking out of the canvas with breathless eagerness, arouse a universal
interest, which is entirely independent of their individuality. Miss
Frances Harris, the serene, and Miss Penelope Boothby, the demure, will
be loved as child ideals long after their names are forgotten.
A _protege_ of Reynolds from the first, Lawrence became his successor
as Painter-in-Ordinary to the King, and in process of time rose to the
proud honor of the presidency of the Royal Academy. Holding thus the two
positions which Reynolds had graced so many years, it may be said that
the master's mantle fell upon him more truly than upon any other
follower.
In technique his painting is criticised by connoisseurs as deficient in
that harmonious blending of the flesh tints with the background which so
delights us in other artists. Then, too, his insight into character was
far less penetrating than that of his predecessor. Nevertheless, his
best work has much of the beauty and animation which we so admire in the
paintings of Reynolds.
One of his notable pictures is the portrait of Master Lambton, son
of Lord Durham, sometimes called, in imitation of the Blue Boy of
Gainsborough, the Red Boy. The painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon
of 1824, where it is said to have completely turned the heads of French
critics, so fascinating was the aristocratic melancholy of the beautiful
boy it represented.
For a companion piece to this picture, one might choose the portrait of
Mr. Peel's daughter, which is considered an exceptionally fine work.
Lawrence's groups of mothers with their children are especially worthy
of study. The most famous of these are Lady Dover, with her son, Lord
Clifden, in her arms, and the Countess Gower, with her little daughter
Elizabeth on her lap.
The latter has been carried by the engraver's art into nearly every
country of the world, and often appears under the title, "Maternal
Love." Both mother and child are looking with intense interest in the
direction toward which the little girl points an eager finger. The
child's face is full of vivacious beauty, the sparkling eyes and parted
lips perfectly representing the alert, imaginative type of child nature.
The finest of Sir Thomas Lawrence's child pictures is undoubtedly the
portrait of the Calmady children, better known by the title of "Nature."
This is indeed a picture disclosing the essential truth of the child
nature; the two little ones are frolicking together in a perfect abandon
of innocent merriment.
The pretty story of the sittings in which this portrait was obtained, is
a key to its success. The children romped with the artist as with a boon
companion, and the younger relieved the monotony of the hour by relating
to him the nursery tales of Dame Wiggins, and the Field Mice and
Raspberry Cream. Thus the painter won the confidence of his little
friends, and delineated them in all the fresh charm of their youthful
vivacity. Nature deserves a place beside Simplicity as a true picture of
the heart of childhood.
But after all has been said concerning the child pictures in any way
similar to those of Sir Joshua Reynolds, it must still be admitted that
his work is entirely unique in what may be termed the _universality_ of
its idealism. Other pictures of child-life there are,--many of them of
equal and even of superior merit as works of art,--which are marked by a
fine quality of idealism; but this idealism is limited in its range to
the delineation of individuals, or of particular classes. These pictures
naturally fall into groups based upon the social classes which they
represent, and by this method of classification, they will be considered
in the subsequent chapters.
[Illustration: PENELOPE BOOTHBY.--REYNOLDS.]
Miss Penelope's face is one of the most familiar of Sir Joshua's art
children, and the first favorite with many for the arch loveliness of
her expression. Although her mouth is set in a prim little pucker, we
cannot repress the suspicion that behind it lurks a good deal of
childish fun. The big mob cap and the voluminous mitts add not a little
to the quaint charm of the picture, and make it easily recognized by
many who are otherwise unfamiliar with Reynolds's works.
As it was a fashion of eighteenth century art to draw subjects largely
from classic mythology, we find among Sir Joshua's child pictures an
Infant Bacchus, an Infant Jupiter, and an Infant Hercules. This last was
painted to fill a commission from the Empress Catherine of Russia, and
is a powerful representation of the young hero, seated on wolf-skins,
strangling serpents.
Mercury as a Postman and Cupid as a Link-Boy are companion pieces,
painted from the same model,--a mischievous young street boy, whose
simulated gravity is irresistibly droll. The artist's keen sense of
humor is seen again in that most captivating little rogue, Puck. The
saucy elf is perched on a mushroom, resting after a frolic, and
apparently plotting new escapades.
A complete enumeration and description of Reynolds's child pictures
would fill a bulky volume, so eagerly, through a period of over thirty
years, were the great portrait painter's services demanded by all the
distinguished families of the day. Of special interest and beauty are
some of the portraits of mothers with their children. The lovely Lady
Waldegrave, clasping her babe to her breast, is one of these, while
another is the celebrated beauty, the Duchess of Devonshire, playing
with her infant daughter. A charming group is Lady Cockburn and her
Boys, which has been engraved under the title of the Roman matron
Cornelia and her Children. It is said of this splendid production, that
when it was brought into the Royal Academy exhibition to be hung, it was
greeted by the assembly of painters with a great demonstration of
applause. It is no wonder, then, that this should be one of the few
paintings to which the master attached his signature.
[Illustration: ANGEL HEADS.--REYNOLDS.]
Our list of Reynolds's pictures would be defective without some mention
of the famous Angel Heads, which is peculiarly a representative work. It
consists of a cluster of little cherubs, representing, in five different
expressions, the delicate features of a single face, whose original was
Miss Frances Isabella Gordon. Painted in 1786, near the close of his
great career, it seems to gather up into a harmonious whole those
several aspects of childhood which Sir Joshua's long and wide experience
had revealed to him as the typical movements of the child mind.
The five totally dissimilar expressions embody those varying attitudes
of mind which the child may successively assume in any critical
experience of its young life. The clear-cut profile of the lower face at
the left suggests the face of the child in the Age of Innocence who
first confronts the problem of life. The one just above has the
thoughtful poise of the little girl Simplicity, pondering over an
important question, while the remaining heads stand for those
imaginative and emotional moods which complete the cycle of human
experience.
The original of this beautiful picture[1] is in the National Gallery at
London, and fortunate indeed are they who have the privilege of standing
before it to delight their eyes with the blonde loveliness of the
sweet faces, framed in aureoles of golden ringlets.
[Illustration: NATURE.--LAWRENCE.]
It would be difficult to estimate the incalculable influence which the
life and work of Sir Joshua Reynolds have exerted on the progress of art
in the past century. The influence of his paintings was supplemented by
the series of discourses which it was his duty as President of the
Royal Academy to deliver annually on subjects of art criticism. His
unparalleled success brought forth many followers and imitators; but
among their works few can be selected as worthy presentations of
childhood in ideal types.
Gainsborough and Romney were considered to some extent the rivals of
Reynolds, but Gainsborough's child pictures were drawn from rustic life,
and Romney's are not worthy of comparison with the master's. We must
turn, then, for the best results of Reynolds's influence to the work of
Sir Thomas Lawrence, who entered upon his career just as the great
portrait-painter was obliged to lay aside his brush from failing sight.
II.
CHILDREN BORN TO THE PURPLE.
For thrones and peoples are as waifs that swing
And float or fall, in endless ebb and flow;
But who love best have best the grace to know
That Love, by right divine, is deathless King.
TENNYSON.