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Unknown Maker

Schoolroom Scene

Maker

Unknown Maker

Title

Schoolroom Scene

Year

1700s

Medium

  • brush with wash,
  • pen with ink,
  • black and white chalk

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • brush with wash,
  • pen with ink,
  • black and white chalk

Supports

  • Heavy card stock

Dimensions

35.1 x 46.2 cm (13 13/16 x 18 3/16 inches) (sheet) irregular shape

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed in graphite on old mount below image: "Adriaen Brower" and "From Collection of Abraham Kent"

Label: Verso of mat-typed Anonymous [Netherlands] ca.1670-1690 (schoolroom teacher and students).Gouache with traces of white opaque.Inscribed in pencil:Adriaen Brouer; LL, inscribed in pencil:From collection of Abraham Storck; LR mounted on support sheet where lie inscriptions. 378x470mm. (14 7/8x18 1/2 in.) Typed:Ex Coll:Abraham (1635-1710).It is not clear as to whether this actual drawing was in his collection or the painting upon which the work is modeled.Storck was an important painter of the period as well as a contemporary of Brower.The other possibility is that a caataloguer was confused and misunderstood the attribution, when it should have been J. Storck, the drawing dealer in Milan, whose inventory was sold in London, in 1815.(Lugt 2318)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

1998.17

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Exhibition History

Under the Magnifying Glass
Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Museum's Collection
Sep 22, 2000 – Jan 14, 2001

Label copy

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.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker
Schoolroom Scene, 1700s
Brush with wash, pen with ink, black and white chalk
35.1 x 46.2 cm (13 13/16 x 18 3/16 inches) (sheet) irregular shape
Anonymous gift 1998.17

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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