Children Portraits

With Koen Fillet and Katrijn Van Bragt, Collection Consultant of The Phoebus Foundation

Within portrait painting, the child portrait holds a distinctive place. Depicting boys and girls dressed in elaborate garments and posed with a solemn, almost formal air, these images can at first seem restrained or even slightly puzzling. Yet they often carry remarkably rich and emotional stories beneath the surface. In this episode of Phoebus Focus, Katrijn Van Bragt explores the history and evolution of this fascinating genre.

Workshop of Dirk Bouts, Virgin and Child in an Enclosed Garden, 1468. Devotional late medieval painting depicting the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child in a walled garden, surrounded by symbolic plants and architecture, with an idyllic landscape in the background, evoking purity and contemplation. — Dirk Bouts (studio), *The Virgin with Child in an enclosed garden,* 1468

Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of William II of Orange, c. 1631. Formal child portrait of the young prince wearing a red satin robe with a black cap and feather, standing in an interior with drapery and accompanied by a small dog, painted in Van Dyck’s elegant courtly style. — Anthony Van Dyck, *Portrait of Willem II of Orange,* c.1631

Jacob Jordaens, As the Old Sing, So the Young Pipe, c. 1640–1645. Lively genre painting depicting a family gathered around a richly laid table, with singing adults and music-making children, surrounded by food, animals, and domestic details, functioning as a moralizing allegory about upbringing and imitation. — Jacob Jordaens, *As the Old Sing, So the Young Pipe, c.*1640-45

Want to know more about children’s portraits? Discover the essay Forever Young. Children of Paint and Varnish in The Bold and the Beautiful in Flemish Portraits.

Read The Bold and the Beautiful in Flemish Portraits