The Child as Rose: A Device of Noble Lineage and Character

Unknown artist. Charles Perrault. Contes de ma mère l'oye. 1695. Morgan Library & Musuem.

For Digital Childhoods, the official blog for the Society for the History of Children and Youth, I wrote about how symbolic portraiture could act as a way to compliment and reinforce gendered performance for children in 17th century France, expanding it beyond the binary within the boundaries of class. You can read the post here.