In medieval Europe, every child was believed to be born with the biblical sin of Adam and Eve — rendering them worthy of eternal damnation.<sup>1</sup> It was a time when childhood itself was not considered worthy of celebration.<sup>2</sup> Children were rushed through their formative years, in a bid to suppress their inherent evil, and often presented as miniature adults.<sup>3</sup><br> <br>During the enlightenment, the Englishman John Locke (1632–1704), argued that a person’s education determined nine-tenths of whether they were ‘good or evil, useful or not,’<sup>4</sup>. Locke placed the utmost importance on environment and experience; he believed that children should be exposed to situations that nurtured their good character traits.<sup>5</sup> Locke also urged the importance of recreation, that children ‘must play, and have playthings.’<sup>6</sup> However, while Locke thought a child could be shaped for the benefit of society,<sup>7</sup> Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an 18th century Swiss-born philosopher, argued that children should be set free from adult supervision and shielded from the corruption of civilisation<sup>8</sup>. He believed a child of nature would display its innate goodness<sup>9 10</sup>.<br><br>The work of Locke and Rousseau caused a change in European attitudes to children, a phenomenon clearly visible in the art of the period. Previously, depictions of children focused on their future role in society, often showing them as extensions of their parents,<sup>11</sup> as in William Hoare’s <em>Family Group</em> (1770), where the little girl is merely the mirror image of her mother. A century later, however, the realisation that children should be allowed to develop naturally is visible in James Clarke Hook’s <em>The Bonxie, Shetland</em> (1873), where the children are painted at play, showing a clearer separation between the worlds of adulthood and childhood.<br>