Lille siddende, nøgen dreng 1860

O. Evens made this small clay sculpture, "Little seated, naked boy", sometime during the 19th century. Evens lived during a time of shifting social attitudes towards children. The growth of the middle class led to new ideas about childhood as a time of innocence and vulnerability. In this context, the sculpture raises questions about how we view and represent the bodies of young boys. Is Evens' work an innocent depiction of childhood, or does it hint at the objectification and sexualization of young bodies? The boy's nudity, combined with his passive pose, could evoke feelings of discomfort, challenging traditional, idealized representations. Evens' sculpture exists in a historical continuum of nudes in art. Consider how notions of childhood, innocence, and sexuality intersect in the male gaze, and think about the power dynamics involved in looking at this intimate representation of a child.