Pride and Joy : Children's Portraits in the Netherlands, 1500-1700

From Library Journal
A publication devoted for children's portraiture might seem a bit saccharine, but that does not hold true for the book under review. Contrary to the dust jacket's description, this exhibition catalog is quite scholarly. Compiled by two scholars specializing in portraiture, the catalog includes four essays and a series of detailed entries. The essays magnify specific aspects of child portraiture in the Netherlands during the 16th and 17th centuries: childishness and the Counter-Reformation, education and portraiture, and images of toys and children's costumes. Bedaux's introduction effectively establishes a groundwork upon which the individual entries are built. The artists represented are a veritable who's who of 16th- to 18th-century Dutch painters, with each entry including details of the subject, the artist, the painting's provenance, the subject's costume, and related literature. Though the topic of children in art has been explored, this catalog of 85 paintings examines concepts specific to the Netherlands. Recommended for museum and university libraries. Kraig Binkowski, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
The wonderful portraits of children that Dutch and Flemish artists painted in the late Renaissance and Baroque periods offer a fascinating look not just at the youngsters themselves—along with their clothes, toys, and pets—but also at the society in which they lived. The charming pictures in this unique book demonstrate that 500 years ago children were, as they are now, their parents’ pride and joy. At first glance, these young people in their elaborate clothing and fancy headgear hardly resemble modern youth. But their fresh faces and vivid expressions transcend time. Superb full-page colorplates reproduce 85 of the best of these portraits—by famous and lesser-known artists alike—while essays by leading art and cultural historians set them in context. Countless parents have formal portraits or studio photographs made of their children. For them, as well as for art lovers and students, Pride and Joy should hold an irresistible fascination.


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A publication devoted for children's portraiture might seem a bit saccharine, but that does not hold true for the book under review. Contrary to the dust jacket's description, this exhibition catalog is quite scholarly. Compiled by two scholars specializing in portraiture, the catalog includes four essays and a series of detailed entries. The essays magnify specific aspects of child portraiture in the Netherlands during the 16th and 17th centuries: childishness and the Counter-Reformation, education and portraiture, and images of toys and children's costumes. Bedaux's introduction effectively establishes a groundwork upon which the individual entries are built. The artists represented are a veritable who's who of 16th- to 18th-century Dutch painters, with each entry including details of the subject, the artist, the painting's provenance, the subject's costume, and related literature. Though the topic of children in art has been explored, this catalog of 85 paintings examines concepts specific to the Netherlands. Recommended for museum and university libraries. Kraig Binkowski, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.


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