Boy with bird 

Giuseppe Antonio Ghedini rendered this drawing of a “Boy with Bird” using chalk and opaque watercolor. Ghedini was working during the 18th century, a time when childhood began to be viewed as a distinct phase of life, separate from adulthood. Here, the boy’s soft features and open expression are a sharp contrast to earlier, more formal depictions of children. The bird becomes a symbol of freedom and innocence, mirroring the boy's own untamed spirit. As the boy gestures towards the bird, we can see the beginning of awareness, but the end of innocence. The intimacy of the scene, the soft rendering, all conspire to focus on the boy’s interiority, his relationship to the world and to the small creature. The image captures an emotionally complex moment as the boy confronts an aspect of the world beyond himself.