Boomgroep 1817 - 1884

Louis-Léopold Boilly created this print entitled "L'enfance?" sometime in the late 18th century. This hand-colored print depicts the many faces of childhood as a jumble of children pose with a small dog. Boilly was known for his genre paintings that captured scenes of Parisian life, and this print is no exception. Here, Boilly seems to be playing with the common trope of representing children as innocent and cherubic. Instead, he presents us with a group of children who are, well, a bit of a mess. We see a range of expressions, from silliness to anger, and one child is even trying to snatch the dog away from another. What does it mean to see childhood depicted in this way? Does it challenge traditional representations of children as innocent and pure? Does it offer a more realistic and relatable view of what it means to be a child? And what does this say about the place of children in society?