Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788), The Marsham Children, 1787;

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie

This masterpiece of portrait painting shows the children of the English count, Charles Marsham. Playing happily in the open air, they embody Rousseau's ideal of a natural upbringing away from the city. Gainsborough, in his virtuoso and sketch-like style, integrates the children into their natural surroundings so that they appear to merge effortlessly with the idyllic summer landscape.