The renounce of worldly goods of Giotto Di Bondone: reflections about the childhood in the Middle Age

Abstract

The goal of this text is to reflect about the concept of childhood in the Middle Age through the iconographic analysis over the works of Giotto Di Bondone, Renounce to the worldly goods. The delimitation of the period, Middle Age, takes place of the fact that the concept of medieval childhood is far from the contemporary, because, according to the studious Philippe Ariès (1978), the children were adults in miniature. The study has as reflexive method the Social History, which makes possible a dialogue between different knowledge areas, expanding the possibilities of thinking in our time. We intend, in this article, indicate a possibility of analysis in which the concept of childhood can be linked in a historical perspective which privileges the link between the formation of the child and, in concomitance the project of adult society to be constituted. Like this, our speech will be developed in a way to evidence that the conception of childhood which a determined time draws, is also, outlined their understanding of society. Under this view, thinking the education of a child is to think, too, the development and formation of the human being.