Children Playing with a Dog 1789

Jean Jacques de Boissieu created this print, "Children Playing with a Dog," using etching techniques sometime in the late 18th century. It's a window into the domestic life of the time, but it also prompts questions about the relationship between childhood, class, and social expectations. Made in France, a society marked by rigid social hierarchies, Boissieu’s image hints at a sentimental view of childhood that was becoming more common among the educated elite. We can see how the image creates meaning through its composition. The children are placed in the foreground, bathed in light, while the adults are in the background and in shadow. This could be read as a commentary on the importance of childhood innocence. To fully understand this print, we might turn to period literature, social histories, and even etiquette manuals, to see how childhood was perceived and regulated. Art is never created in a vacuum, and its meaning is always contingent on its social and institutional context.