Joseph WRIGHT OF DERBY
English 1734 -1797
The Synnot children
1781
oil on canvas
152.4 x 125.8 cm
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mrs Michael Hawker (nee Patricia Synnot), Founder Benefactor, 1980
E1-1980

The three children of Walter Synnot of County Armagh in Ireland, from left to right: Maria, Walter and Marcus.

While the painting can be seen as just a depiction of children at play and it has been interpreted as reflecting the philosophical concerns of the Enlightenment regarding a child's freedom of spirit through the metaphor of a liberated dove.

The education of the young, particularly boys, was the subject of much literature and it is interesting that the two boys are the active protagonists in freeing the bird while Maria clearly expresses degree of sorrow and emotes concern for the dove.