18th c. British Childhood

Brits are so used to portraits of children painted by some of our greatest old masters that we tend to forget what an innovation children's portraiture was in the 18th century. A recently opened exhibition in the Städel Museum Annex, Germany, acknowledges our lead in this field: The Changing Face of Childhood: British Children's Portraits and their Influence in Europe. And here's a blurb worth reading: "The recently purchased painting The Children of Lord Cavendish by Sir Thomas Lawrence, a masterpiece in the Städel collection, provided the occasion for this exhibition on the evolution of the portrait of children in eighteenth-century England and its spread to the European continent." (Title link.) Germans can view these paintings until 15 July 2007. Now the best news: this exhibition is coming to the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London: 1 August to 4 November 2007 (CLICK).