Joshua Reynolds - The age of innocence

Title: The age of innocence
Artist: Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
Date: 1788
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 77 x 64 cm

“The age of innocence” represents a little girl sitting on the ground in a simple countryside landscape. The composition is very Raphaelite (see page 42)- the girl’s sitting posture forms in itself an equilateral triangle and the background’s sole purpose is to create an atmosphere reflecting on the subject. The girl is dressed well and cleanly but in simple and loose clothing, her hair is held back yet kept wild, her feet are bare and apparent, she is holding her hands in a simple and natural gesture against her chest, and she is looking towards the right (ie. the future), with an ambivalent look of wonder and questioning.

The painting soon became a favorite of the public, was then given its catchy name and has since become an icon for the innocence of childhood.