Browse

Children

Thumbnail of dance of death illustration
Source

The Dance of Death

Children are not frequent subjects of medieval art, but the figure of the child does occur in a medieval artistic and literary form known as the Danse macabre or Dance of the Dead.

Thumbnail of ostracon rock
Source

Ostracon

In Greek and Roman times children and adults often wrote on ostraca (that is, pieces of broken pottery and limestone flakes). They were costless and convenient writing materials. On this flat limestone piece a student practiced letters of the alphabet.

Thumbnail of drawing of girl and angel
Source

The Red Shoes

Folktales have been used for generations to teach moral tales to children. They have shifted over time depending upon the generation and location of the tale but remain part of the childhood experience for many young people.

Source

Ivory Doll

This finely carved ivory doll with moveable arms and legs was found in the grave of a girl approximately five years of age in Tarragona, Spain, a port city south of Barcelona. It dates to the 3rd or 4th century CE.

Thumbnail of graffiti image of girl
Source

Pippi Graffiti Stencil

This image found on a wall around the University of Vienna and the Austrian Parliament, in 2008, is a graffiti stencil of Pippi Longstocking, the eponymous fictional character created by the Swedish children's book author, Astrid Lindgren, in 1945.

Thumbnail of a drawing of man cutting a boy with scissors
Source

Der Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter)

Published in 1858, Der Struwwelpeter (Shaggy Peter) is a German children's book first published anonymously under a different title in 1845 by Heinrich Hoffman.

Thumbnail of children's games painting
Source

Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s "Children's Games"

Flemish painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted "Children's Games" in 1560. While many of his other paintings also portray peasant folk culture, this summer townscape that is devoid of adults is rich in detail about Medieval children—especially at play.

Thumbnail of children's story illustration
Source

Max und Moritz

Written and illustrated by German painter and poet, Wilhelm Busch, Max und Moritz (1865) is a children's story written in doggerel verse and illustrated in a comic-like style about two unscrupulous boys who taunt adults with their sadistic pranks.

Source

Portrait of Darleen, 2007

The photograph is from an exhibition entitled "Thirteen" by German professional photographer Janina Wick. It shows a young girl leaning slightly against a tree, against the background of a graffiti-covered wall, in an urban environment.

Thumbnail of a young female ice skater
Source

Portrait of Isabelle, 2007

The photograph is from an exhibition entitled "Thirteen" by German professional photographer Janina Wick. It shows a young female ice skater leaning against the wall in a sports center.