Family Audio Tour: The Village School

Oil painting of Dutch school room in seventeenth century with teacher hitting crying child's hand with wooden spoon as other children watch — Jan Steen (1626-1679), The Village School, c.1665. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

Room 38

Can you find Jan Steen (1626–1679), The Village School, c.1665, in this room?

Listen to the audio

Continue on the tour

Walk into the next room (Room 37) and find the stairs hidden behind a screen on the left side of the room.
Walk up these steps into Room 32. Here you'll find a large religious painting, with lots of gold, by Jacques Yverni.
Or, you can take another look at all the audio tracks and choose one you'd like to listen to next.

Transcript

Íde:

When I’m looking after the pictures in the galleries, I’m often alone with them, and I could swear that sometimes I hear voices coming from them – this one in particular.

Old man (Dutch accent):

How many times have I told you? Paper is for writing on, NOT for crumpling up and throwing at your sister!

Child (crying):

It was an accident. I didn’t mean to throw it it… boo hoo

Eoin:

What’s going on here?

Íde:

This is a school in Holland a long long time ago. In those days, all the children – big and small – learned together in the same class. Some are reading, some are writing, and…

Eoin [interrupting]:

…someone’s being told off! The boy in the front is in trouble. He’s holding out his hand and the teacher’s hitting it with what looks like a wooden spoon. Ouch! What’s he done wrong?

Íde:

I’d say something to do with that crumpled paper on the floor.

Eoin:

Hm, he looks upset – that teacher looks strict! And silly too, in that funny hat, stripy sleeves and big collar – it’s like a clown’s outfit.

Íde:

In those days, people made fun of teachers. Can you imagine? And this artist, Jan Steen, deliberately chose these clothes to make the teacher look funny and ridiculous. Steen loved painting pictures that made people laugh!

Eoin:

That girl in the middle’s having fun anyway. I think she’s laughing at the boy being told off.

Íde:

She’s actually the artist’s daughter, and the boy being told off was his son, as was the older boy behind, with dark hair. This artist liked paintings scenes from every life and often used his family as models.