Following are depictions and portraits of boys and girls from the Middle Ages. (The clothing & depictions of 16th century children have moved to their own page.) Because the goal of this survey is to provide useful information on a realistic view of children’s clothing, I have avoided most allegorical or overly anachronistically-dressed children. I’ve also included links to extant clothing worn by pre-17th century children.

Take a look at the BNF’s online resources for L’enfance au Moyen Âge for late medieval (mostly 15th century) examples. More discussion on this topic at the Garb The Child LiveJournal Community.

• Child’s tunic with ducks, Coptic, 6th or 7th century
• Tunic of Don Garcia, first half of the 12th century
• Clothing of Doña María, 1235 (more photos here )
• Baldwin IV and William of Tyre, History of the Crusades (British Library Yates Thompson 12, fol. 152v), c. 1250-1259
• Queen Emma flees to Normandy with her two young sons (fol. 4r) and Queen Emma and her sons being received by Duke Richard II of Normandy (fol. 4v), The Life of King Edward the Confessor (Ee. 3.59), c. 1250-60
• Boy received into a monastery, Decretum (British Library Royal 10 D. VIII, fol. 82v), early 14th century
• A bone-setter manipulates a boy's leg, Chirurgia (British Library Sloane 1977, fol. 8v), c. 1300-1310
• The Manesse Codex (UBH Cod. Pal. germ. 848), 1300-1330
  Because of the way the Manesse Codex was drawn, it is sometimes hard to tell whether the shorter figures are intended to be children, or adults who have been shrunk to fit the space available. Illustrations featuring children include those of Von Wissenlo (fol. 299r), Herr Reinmar der Fiedler (fol. 312r), Meister Friedrich von Sonnenburg (fol. 407r), and Der Litschauer (fol. 422r).
• Jacob blessing Ephraim (fol. 8v), and giving matzot and haroset to children (fol. 15), The Golden Haggaddah (British Library Add. 27210), early 14th century
• A boy plays a rebec at the Marriage at Cana, The Queen Mary Psalter (British Library Royal 2 B. VII, fol. 168v), c. 1310-1320
• Several illustrations in the BNF Fr. 152 Bible historiale (14th century); use Mandragore to find illustrations from this manuscript
• Boys in the Luttrell Psalter (British Library Add. 42130), c. 1325-1335: fols. 99, 188, 196v
• Several of the illustrations in the marginalia of Romance of Alexander (Bodley 264), c. 1338-44, feature children, including the puppet show on folio 54v.
• Boy punished by his teacher (fol. 214) and a teacher and pupils (fol. 541), Omne Bonum (British Library MS Royal 6 E. VI), c. 1360-1375
• Job with ten sons and daughters, Bible historial (MMW 10 B 23, fol 246v), 1372
• Herjolfsnes 44, a dress worn by a girl in Greenland, approximately ten years old
• Herjolfsnes 86, a cap found near a boy's grave
• Herjolfsnes 62, a child's garment
• The salt-seller (fol. 5r), mulberries (fol. 10r), sweet cherries (fol. 11v), pears, butter, dill (fol. 31v), the east wind (fol. 57r), Tacuinum Sanitatis (ÖNB Codex Vindobonensis, series nova 2644), c. 1370-1400
• Rain, Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Nouvelle acquisition latine 1673, fol. 95v), c. 1390-1400
• De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 598), beginning of the 15th century
  The combat of Eteocles and Polyneices (fol. 36)
  Hecuba weeps for her children (fol. 47v)
  Execution of Olympias (fol. 93v)
• The assassination of Barsine and Hercules (fol. 114) and Orodes II chooses his successor (fol. 166v) in De casibus (BNF Fr. 226), first quarter of the 15th century
• Sweet cherries (fol. 8v), beets (fol. 24v), dill (fol. 29), horehound (fol. 33v), violets (fol. 36), millet (fol. 46v), raisins (fol. 54), the east wind (fol. 55), butter (fol. 59), and chicken eggs (fol. 63v), Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Latin 9333), 15th century
• Hector's family begs him not to go into battle, L'Epître d'Othéa (British Library Harley 4431, fol. 135), c. 1410-1411
• Funeral sculpture of Béatrice de Beausart and her son Guillaume de Melun, 1419
• Virgin and Child by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1440
  While not all paintings of this theme show realistic & workable infant clothing, this one is especially practical.
• A teacher instructs his pupils (fol. 62), a boy roasts chickens on an open-air spit (fol. 101), and the Holy Family at work (fol. 149), The Hours of Catherine of Cleves (PML M.917), c. 1440
• The left panel of The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden, 1445-50
• Detail from Presentation of Christ in the Temple by Stefan Lochner, 1447
• Aristotle teaches Alexander, History of Alexander (BNF Fr. 9342, fol. 7v), mid-15th century
• The family of Job, book of hours with proverbs (BNF NAL 3134, fol. 104), mid-15th century
• St. Anne and the Three Marys in the Book of Hours of tienne Chevalier (BNF NAL 1416), 1452-1460
• A peasant boy with his family, Armorial de Revel (BNF Fr. 22997, fol. 344), 1456
• Portrait of a Young Girl by Petrus Christus, after 1460
• A sitting man gives bread to three boys (lower right-hand corner), Factorum et dictorum memorabilium (KB 71 D 42, Book 4: Chapter 1, fol. 202v), 1462
• The Presentation in the Temple by Hans Memling, 1463
  The two little girls are easier to see in this detail.
• A family, Aristotle's Politics, Ethics, and Economics (BNF Fr. 22500, fol. 6), 15th century
• Speculum Historiale, 1463: Abraham sends Hagar away (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 44v); crossing the Red Sea (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 55v); the story of David (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 74v); the story of St. Eustace (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 380); St. Mark and St. Marcellian (BNF Fr. 51, fol. 46); the story of St. Paphnuce of Heraclea (BNF Fr. 51, fol. 158v); the miracle of St. Martin (BNF Fr. 51, fol. 297); the story of St. Germain (BNF Fr. 51, fol. 431)
• Detail from The Resurrection of Lazarus by Gérard de Saint-Jean
• Illustration for Psalm 80, showing David with musicians and dancing children, in a psalter (KB 131 F 18, fol. 86v), ca. 1465-1470
• Francesco and Sigismondo Gonzaga in The Meeting in the frescoes at the Ducal Palace in Mantua by Andrea Mantegna, c. 1471-1474
• Anne Donne in the center panel of the Donne Triptych by Hans Memling, 1475
• Amphiaraus of Argos meeting Eriphyle (fol. 26r), the discovery of Opheltes' death (fol. 29r), and Andromache begs Hector not to return to battle (fol. 111v), Roman de Thès (PML G.23), 1474
• Marcus Furius Camillus receiving the schoolmaster of Falerii and his pupils; the schoolmaster is stripped and the children drive him back to their city with sticks, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium (KB 66 B 13, Book 6: Chapter 1, fol. 289r), c. 1475
• A boy plays with a pull-toy boat on wheels, a book of hours (PML M.1001, fol. 48r), c. 1475
• The City of God (MMW 10 A 11), c. 1475-1480
  St. Ambrose speaking to two boys and a girl (fol. 13r)
  Two boys among a group listening to St. Paul (fol. 13v)
• The Knight Cifar (BNF Esp 36), fourth quarter of the 15th century: fols. 14, 14v, 16, 16v, 17, 32, and 32v
• Portrait of a Boy by Pinturicchio, 1481-3
• Triptych of the Family Moreel by Hans Memling, 1484
  See also the details of the side panels: Willem Moreel and his sons, and Barbara van Vlaenderberch and her daughters.
• Self-Portrait at 13 by Albrecht Dürer, 1484
• Boys putting up a tent for Leopold the Mild, from the Family Tree of Bamberg by Hans Part, c. 1489-1492
• An Old Man and His Grandson by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1490
• Left wing of The Sedano Family Triptych by Gerard David, c. 1495

Click here to continue to the 16th century!