Innocence and Beauty: Children and Animals in Art (1700-1900)
Permanent exhibition
Innocence and Beauty explores how artists between 1700 and 1900 reimagined childhood and its connection with the natural world.
In earlier centuries, children were viewed as miniature adults, valued for their labour or social usefulness and expected to behave like their elders. By the 19th century, however, childhood came to be seen as a distinct and precious stage of life — a time of innocence, imagination, and emotional growth.
Artists reflected this shift by portraying children in states of playfulness and wonder, often alongside animals that symbolised purity, affection, and vulnerability. Together, these images reveal changing ideas about family, nature, and the beauty of youth.
Caption: First steps by George Hall Neale (Public Domain)
Further information:
- Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm (closed Mondays)
- Admission is free
- Sudley House, Mossley Hill Road, Mossley Hill, Liverpool L18 8BX
- Access by car: The drive to Sudley House from Liverpool city centre takes approximately 20 mins. Follow ‘Wapping’ (A5036) – the road that runs alongside the river – out of the city; By train: Mossley Hill station – get here from Liverpool city centre by boarding a train at Lime Street Station. Aigburth station – Northern line services (Southport – Hunts Cross); By bus: 61 bus to Elmswood Road; 82 bus to Aigburth Road; 80 or 80A bus to Rose Lane
- Further information 0151 478 4016
