Picturing Childhood

Cornelis de Vos, Magdalena de Vos, The Artist’s Daughter, ca. 1623-24, Chatsworth House.

Picturing Childhood: A New Perspective at Chatsworth, invites us to explore the many different versions of childhood as represented in art that spans five centuries, from Tudor times to the present day. Rarely-seen pieces from the Devonshire Collections - such as paintings, sketches, literature, photographs, costumes and sculpture - will be on display throughout the house in addition to loans and exciting new interactive works by contemporary artists. The pieces explore themes ranging from family relationships and literacy to duty, identity and colonialism.

Designed to appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds, the exhibition takes inspiration from Chatsworth's playful histories and includes thought-provoking, multi-sensory experiences as well as the opportunity to rest, read and reflect. 

Works by artists including Raphael, Anthony van Dyck, Edwin Landseer, Joshua Reynolds, Johan Zoffany (on loan from Tate) and Lucian Freud are installed throughout the house in historic spaces such as the Chapel and the State Apartment. They are shown alongside items from the archives at Chatsworth, including a flick through family photo album, and a short film inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a first edition of which is held in the library.

Viewfinders, installed by artist Abigail Reynolds around the house and garden, encourage you to view life and Chatsworth from a new perspective, such as the eyes of a hawk, a songbird or a multi-lens trilobite.