Schoolmaster 1665

"The Schoolmaster" (1665) by Dutch Golden Age painter Jan Steen depicts a chaotic scene in a 17th-century classroom. The schoolmaster, wielding a wooden spoon, is positioned front and center, his stern expression contrasting with the playful antics of his students. Steen's masterful use of light and shadow, as well as his signature attention to detail, creates a lively portrayal of daily life in a Dutch schoolroom. The painting, located in the National Gallery of Ireland, is a prime example of Steen's genre paintings that often captured the humorous and sometimes bawdy aspects of ordinary people and their activities.