The Night School

Four candles illuminate this scene. The rest is clothed in darkness. Children are gathered in the candlelight doing their lessons. In the foreground a girl is reciting her lesson. The teacher holds her curling paper down with a stick, while at the same time admonishing the boy on the right. An hourglass on the table shows when the lesson is over. This small painting must have been made before 1665: that was the year it was first exhibited1665 exhibitionIn 1665, twenty-seven works by Gerard Dou were exhibited at the home of the painter Johannes Hannot. All the paintings were from the collection of one person, Leiden art collector Johan de Bye. Dou was 52 in 1665 and his candlelight paintings were world-famous.. This finely painted picture was the showpiece of the exhibition due to the wonderful light effects in it. Dou was already famous by this time for his candlelight paintings.