The Age of Innocence
Joshua Reynolds·1788
Historical Context
Reynolds's The Age of Innocence from around 1788, in the Tate, depicts a young girl seated in a landscape with an expression of unselfconscious purity. The painting became one of the most popular and widely reproduced images in British art, embodying the Romantic cult of childhood innocence that Rousseau had promoted. Reynolds's fancy pictures of children, painted in his later years, represent a softer, more sentimental side of an artist primarily known for his intellectual grand-manner portraits.
Technical Analysis
Reynolds renders the child's face with soft, blended brushwork that creates an effect of idealized innocence. The warm palette and the atmospheric landscape background create a sentimental mood that contrasts with the more formal technique of his adult portraits.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the child's wide-open, unselfconscious gaze — Reynolds refuses to impose adult dignity on this young subject
- ◆Look at the warm, halo-like atmospheric glow around the figure that Reynolds creates through soft edges and luminous background
- ◆Observe the simple, uncluttered composition — nothing competes with the child's face and expression
- ◆Find the soft, blended brushwork in the skin — Reynolds uses his most delicate technique for children's faces
- ◆Notice the Romantic sentimentality of the mood — this became one of the most widely reproduced images in British art precisely because of this quality
See It In Person
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