Unknown Maker

An old inscription on this drawing attributes it to the famous 17th-century Flemish genre painter Adrian Brouwer (1605/6-38); however, the uneven proportions of the figures and the rough quality of the workmanship poitn rather to an amateur artist working in the style and tradition of such well known Dutch and Flemish genre artists as Brouwer, David Ryckaert (1612-61), and Jan Steen (1626-79). The Brouwer inscription may be understood as a specific artist's name being used to describe a typical peasant subject, much in the way we use the term "Xerox" to describe any copy machine. Seventeenth-century Dutch schoolroom scenes are often satirical comments on the state of rural education. In this drawing, the teacher is oblivious to the fighting in the classroom. The large ceramic mug at his feet suggests that he is drinking and not teaching. A switch lies idly in front of the teacher, implying he has not inflicted enough discipline on the students. The tavern scene on the classroom wall suggests that peasants prefer the earthly pleasure of drink to the intellectual pleasure of learning.