The classroom - Ferdinand de Braekeleer (1792-1883)

Oil on panel

Signed and dated lower left: "Ferdinand de Braekeleer, 1868, Antwerp."

This depiction of a classroom clearly shows the typical style of De Braekeleer. One can read the painting as one reads a story. The viewer's gaze can wander about, analyzing all the different characters and their activities. There is a sort of humor to the scene, with a psychological characterization of the different characters. On the left side of the classroom, we can see several students working diligently. While another one has thrown his writing slate to the ground, he seems to have given up. In the center of the painting, we can see the older school teacher, explaining carefully to three of his students how the problems should be solved.

In this work we can also see how De Braekeleer follows the composition schemes that were common in the seventeenth century. Think for instance of ‘little schools’ attributed to Adriaan Brouwer, Adriaan van Ostade or Jan Steen.

Ferdinand de Braekeleer was a Flemish painter well known for his genre scenes and emerges from this painting as an excellent craftsman. The high quality of his works revived Belgian painting and his role as a teacher of the next generation of artists was significant. He taught at the Antwerp Academy from 1855 onwards, and had artists like Charles Venneman, Jan Leys and Jacob Jacobs under his supervision.