Phillippe Arie's The Children Of James I

From the 14th to the 16th centuries there was the rise of the renaissance meaning ‘rebirth’. The period is characterised by innovation, imagination and creativity where there was the advancement in numerous sciences, art, literature and philosophers. Therefore the representations of childhood relies heavily on paintings up until the modern era. The painting I have chosen is ‘The children of James I’ created in 1613 sited in Ivy Pinchbeck and Margret Hewitts 1969 ‘From tutor times to the eighteenth century’.

Phillippe Aries a historian of childhood argued that adults were not interested in childhood or aware of it as a separate state: ‘in the medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist’ sited in (Nicholas Orme 2003 pg 5). Aries claimed

Some Christian text give the idea that children are reincarnated evil “None is pure from sin, not even the infant, who's life is but a day upon the earth." (Confessions of St Augustine,4th Century). However, other biblical texts such as Psalms 8.2 old Testament write about children being innately pure and full of wisdom "Out of the mouths of babes and suckling’s though has perfected praise.” Children did not deserve special protection and treatment at the time. They were frequently punished the same as adults were.The puritans disciplined the children by strict religious and cultural rules, by assigning as many duties as possible, filling any remaining time with religious and educational

This may show two contradictory reasons for its use. Firstly it could show that parents are focusing on child rearing and using the walker to help aid a child to walk thereby increasing development of motor skills. On the other hand it could be used for the parents advantage to quicken the development of a child to be able to walk so they can enter the adult world quicker as “once an infant can walk and talk, it immediately entered the world of adults” (Kehily 2013 pg 67). Another key feature of the painting is that the child in the middle appears smaller and is placed on a chair. This indicates that the child may be younger and in need of support. As a result this shows a clear image that the artist wanted to show the difference in ages and how the younger child needed more care.This relates to Aries theory of how the conception of child rearing changed over time. As he states “in medieval society the awareness of childhood was lacking… language did not give the word ‘child’ the restricted meaning we give it today” (Jacki Watts 2009 pg 564). In the 1600s adults began to see childhood as a “distinguished phase” becoming more sentimental towards them as shown in all I have previously