Les Enfants modèles au musée de l’Orangerie

The notion of childhood, it has been argued, is a social construction.  Looking at Medieval artworks, one is taken aback by representations of children as literally, 'little people' or 'mini adults'.  Jean Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher is the man usually credited with creating the modern notion of childhood.  Much like other liberal-minded thinkers, Rousseau believed that childhood was the brief interlude of sanctuary before encountering the perils and hardships of adulthood. "Why rob these innocents of the joys which pass so quickly," Rousseau pleaded. "Why fill with bitterness the fleeting early days of childhood, days which will no more return for them than for you?"

In this exhibit at the musée de l’Orangerie, you will see how art and artists have interpreted the role of children in their period of sanctuary before adulthood.