Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/106

82 JAN STEEN SECT. 288. THE SCHOOL. Sm. 140 ; W. 67. The master is asleep in his chair. One boy has put on his spectacles ; another plays a flute. A little boy sits on a table, with a large book on his knees and a wooden spoon in his right hand ; an older boy, with a grin on his face, stands by him and points to the book. In the right foreground a man brings in a pig, which eats the paper lying on the floor ; two lads are fighting behind him ; another stands on the table before the chimney-piece and smilingly holds up a lantern in his right hand and a piece of paper in his left. Two passages in the foreground, of an indecent character, have been repainted, as a comparison with the Nimes picture (289) shows. The picture is much exaggerated in expression and sketchy in style. On the whole it is not a distinguished work, and the colour is unpleasant. Signed in full in the left-hand bottom corner and dated 1672 ; panel, 15! inches by 20 inches. Described by Waagen (ii. 184). Exhibited at Manchester, 1857, No. 1051. Sale. P. Caauw, Leyden, August 24, 1768, No. 9 (115 florins). In the collection of the Baron Verstolk van Soelen, The Hague, 1833 (Sm.) (purchased for 1600 florins). Now in the collection of the Earl of Northbrook, London, 1889 catalogue, No. 99. 289. THE SCHOOL. The schoolmaster is asleep ; the children play all kinds of pranks, some of them of an indecent character. A pig is eating paper. In all there are 21 figures. [Compare 288.] Now in the Nimes Museum, Gower collection, No. 223. 290. A SCHOOL. A small picture. The master, dressed in shabby black, sits on the right cutting a quill pen. To the left two boys are writing. At the window is a third boy with a red cap. The boys are dressed in blue and yellow. It is not well executed ; the boy on the extreme left is the best of the figures. On the right is an almost illegible inscription : " Dat kent ghy . . . kent. . . ." Now in the collection of General Fabritius, St. Petersburg (A. Bredius). 290*7. A Schoolmaster. W. 241. Sale. Rotterdam, April 27, 1713 (Hoet, ii. 365), No. 4 (52 florins). 290^. A School. Mentioned by Houbraken (1721). 290*:. A Schoolmaster. Spirited and comic. Sale. Amsterdam, April 23, 1732 (Hoet, i. 372), No. 23 (66 florins). 290^. The Schoolmaster. W. 242. A small picture. Sale. Amsterdam, April 15, 1739 (Hoet, i. 584), No. 170 (52 florins). 291. The Schoolmaster. Many children. A boy is being caned by the master. A woman holds a boy whose nose is bleeding. A good picture. Canvas, 16 inches by 12 inches. Sale. Amsterdam, June 5, 1765 (Terw. 462), No. 113 (18 florins).