Turkish Journal of Pediatric Surgery

S. N. Cenk Büyükünal1, Ebru Yeşildağ2

1Department of Pediatric Surgery, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
2Department of Pediatric Surgery, Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Tekirdağ, Türkiye

Keywords: Art, children, health.

Abstract

Artworks focusing on children began to increase only after the Renaissance period, particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries. However, direct relation to pediatric health among these pieces is extremely low. In this study, artworks on pediatric health were collected, and their interesting aspects were briefly described. The examples that could be identified consist of photographs taken with permission during museum visits; publications featuring children in painting and the pieces from personal collection. In conclusion, children, and particularly their health, were not prominent topics for art when all the artistic pieces are considered throughout the history. Detecting these pieces and comparing their relation with the medical history could enlighten the improvements in not only the health status of children but also the social perception in subjects such as child abuse and infanticide attempts.

Citation: Büyükünal SNC, Yeşildağ E. Reflections of child health in the field of art throughout history. Turkish J Ped Surg 2025;39(3):168-175. doi: 10.62114/ JTAPS.2025.200.