The school and his image: the elementary schools in some art works (16th and 17th century).
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Published
10-06-2025
Javier Laspalas
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6557-4932
Abstract
The school space is a very fleeting historical reality, especially if the classrooms were in improvised rooms. Also, because they are usually renovated and there are very few that maintain their original layout. This is especially applicable to early modern primary schools.
However, taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the Internet, we have managed to locate numerous paintings and engravings in which they are represented. Some are signed by renowned artists, such as Breughel, Molenaer, van Ostade or Steen.
They seem to reflect the disagreement of certain sectors with mass literacy. They show the differences between the urban and rural world, or between male and female education. Finally, they inform us about school equipment and teaching methods.
How to Cite
Laspalas, J. (2025). The school and his image: the elementary schools in some art works (16th and 17th century). Cabás. International Journal on Historical-Educational Heritage, (33), 204–221. https://doi.org/10.1387/cabas.26873
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Keywords
Elementary schools, Visual representations, Teaching methods, Flemish and Dutch painting
References
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Bagley, A. (1984). Bruegel's The Ass at School: A Study in Education Iconics and the History of Education. Paedagogica historica, 24(2), 357-378. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ abs/10.1080/0030923840240201
del Campo Tejedor, A. (2012). Tratado del Burro y otras bestias. Una historia del simbolismo animal en Occidente. Aconcagua Libros.
Chartier, A.M. (2007). L’école et la lecture obligatoire. Histoire et paradoxes des practiques d’enseignement de la lecture. Retz.
Codina Mir, G. (1968). Aux sources de la pédagogie des Jésuites, le modus parisiensis. Institutum Historicum S.I., 1968. https://archive.org/details/bhsi28
Compère, M.M. (1985). Du collège au lycée (1500-1850). Gallimard.
Durantini, M.F. (1983). The Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting. UMI Research Press.
Ellerton, N. (2012). Rewriting the History of School Mathematics in North America, 1607-1861: The Central Role of Cyphering Books. Springer.
Frijhoff, W. (2004). Calvinism, Literacy, and Reading Culture in the Early Modern Northern Netherlands: Towards a Reassessment. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History, 95(1), 252-265. https://doi.org/10.14315/arg-2004-0111
Gibson, W.S. (2007-2008). Asinus Ad Lyram: From Boethius to Bruegel and Beyond. Simiolus. Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, 33(1/2), 33-42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 20355348
Infantes, V. (1998). De las primeras letras: cartillas españolas para enseñar a leer del siglo XVII. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.
Julia, D., Revel, J., y Chartier, R. (1986). Les universités européennes du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle. Histoire sociale des populations étudiantes. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Julia, D., y Chartier, R. (1989). Les universités européennes du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle. Histoire sociale des populations étudiantes. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Juska-Bacher, B., Grenby, M., Laine, T., y Sroka, W. (2023). Learning to Read, Learning Religion: Catechism Primers in Europe from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries. John Benjamins.
Kagan, R. L. (1981). Universidad y sociedad en la España moderna. Tecnos.
Kuijpers, E. (1997). Lezen en schrijven. Onderzoek naar het alfabetiseringsniveau in zeventiende-eeuws Amsterdam. Tijdschrift voor sociale geschiedenis, 23, 490-522. https://vu-nl.academia.edu/ErikaKuijpers
Laspalas, J. (1993). La reinvención de la escuela. Cinco estudios sobre la enseñanza elemental durante la Edad Moderna. EUNSA.
Laspalas, J. (2002). Clasismo y escolarización elemental en la España ilustrada: un ejemplo de Navarra en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII. En J. L. Guereña (ed.), Famille et éducation en Espagne et en Amérique Latine (pp. 27-37). Presses Universitaires François-Rabelais. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pufr.6133
Laspalas, J. (2024). Infraestructuras y equipamiento para las aulas de primeras letras en Navarra (1700-1833). En Cózar Gutiérrez, R. y Vega Gómez, C. (coords.), Los estudiantes. Familias, cursos de vida y formación en la España moderna (en prensa). Trea.
Lehmann, A-S. (2019). An alphabet of colors. Valcooch’s Rules and the emergence of sense-based learning around 1600. Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art - Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 68,168-203. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26759341
Loewe, J. A. (2013). Why do Lutherans Sing? Lutherans, Music, and the Gospel in the First Century of the Reformation. Church History, 82(1), 69-89.https://www.jstor.org/stable/ 23358906
Margolin J.-C. (1975). Des lunettes et des hommes ou la satire des mal-voyants au XVIe siècle. Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations, 30(2-3), 375-393. https://doi.org/10.3406/ahess.1975.293611
Riecke, E. (1971). Magister und Scholaren. Illustrierte Geschichte des Unterrichtswesens. Eugen Diederichs Verlag.
Schärling, A. (2003). Compter avec des jetons. Tables à calculer et tables de compte du Moyen Âge à la Révolution. Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes.
di Simone, M.R. (1999). La admisión. En Ridder-Symoens, H. de (dir.), La universidad en la Europa moderna temprana (1500-1800) (vol. II, pp. 303-345). Servicio Editorial. Universidad del País Vasco.
Stallybrass, P., Chartier, R., Mowery, J. F., & Wolfe (2004). Hamlet's Tables and the Technologies of Writing in Renaissance England. Shakespeare Quarterly, 55(4), 379-419. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3844198
Stone, L. (1964). The Educational Revolution in England, 1560-1640. Past & Present, 28(1), 41-80. https://doi.org/10.1093/past/28.1.41
Bagley, A. (1984). Bruegel's The Ass at School: A Study in Education Iconics and the History of Education. Paedagogica historica, 24(2), 357-378. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ abs/10.1080/0030923840240201
del Campo Tejedor, A. (2012). Tratado del Burro y otras bestias. Una historia del simbolismo animal en Occidente. Aconcagua Libros.
Chartier, A.M. (2007). L’école et la lecture obligatoire. Histoire et paradoxes des practiques d’enseignement de la lecture. Retz.
Codina Mir, G. (1968). Aux sources de la pédagogie des Jésuites, le modus parisiensis. Institutum Historicum S.I., 1968. https://archive.org/details/bhsi28
Compère, M.M. (1985). Du collège au lycée (1500-1850). Gallimard.
Durantini, M.F. (1983). The Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting. UMI Research Press.
Ellerton, N. (2012). Rewriting the History of School Mathematics in North America, 1607-1861: The Central Role of Cyphering Books. Springer.
Frijhoff, W. (2004). Calvinism, Literacy, and Reading Culture in the Early Modern Northern Netherlands: Towards a Reassessment. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History, 95(1), 252-265. https://doi.org/10.14315/arg-2004-0111
Gibson, W.S. (2007-2008). Asinus Ad Lyram: From Boethius to Bruegel and Beyond. Simiolus. Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, 33(1/2), 33-42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 20355348
Infantes, V. (1998). De las primeras letras: cartillas españolas para enseñar a leer del siglo XVII. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.
Julia, D., Revel, J., y Chartier, R. (1986). Les universités européennes du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle. Histoire sociale des populations étudiantes. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Julia, D., y Chartier, R. (1989). Les universités européennes du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle. Histoire sociale des populations étudiantes. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Juska-Bacher, B., Grenby, M., Laine, T., y Sroka, W. (2023). Learning to Read, Learning Religion: Catechism Primers in Europe from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries. John Benjamins.
Kagan, R. L. (1981). Universidad y sociedad en la España moderna. Tecnos.
Kuijpers, E. (1997). Lezen en schrijven. Onderzoek naar het alfabetiseringsniveau in zeventiende-eeuws Amsterdam. Tijdschrift voor sociale geschiedenis, 23, 490-522. https://vu-nl.academia.edu/ErikaKuijpers
Laspalas, J. (1993). La reinvención de la escuela. Cinco estudios sobre la enseñanza elemental durante la Edad Moderna. EUNSA.
Laspalas, J. (2002). Clasismo y escolarización elemental en la España ilustrada: un ejemplo de Navarra en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII. En J. L. Guereña (ed.), Famille et éducation en Espagne et en Amérique Latine (pp. 27-37). Presses Universitaires François-Rabelais. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pufr.6133
Laspalas, J. (2024). Infraestructuras y equipamiento para las aulas de primeras letras en Navarra (1700-1833). En Cózar Gutiérrez, R. y Vega Gómez, C. (coords.), Los estudiantes. Familias, cursos de vida y formación en la España moderna (en prensa). Trea.
Lehmann, A-S. (2019). An alphabet of colors. Valcooch’s Rules and the emergence of sense-based learning around 1600. Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art - Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 68,168-203. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26759341
Loewe, J. A. (2013). Why do Lutherans Sing? Lutherans, Music, and the Gospel in the First Century of the Reformation. Church History, 82(1), 69-89.https://www.jstor.org/stable/ 23358906
Margolin J.-C. (1975). Des lunettes et des hommes ou la satire des mal-voyants au XVIe siècle. Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations, 30(2-3), 375-393. https://doi.org/10.3406/ahess.1975.293611
Riecke, E. (1971). Magister und Scholaren. Illustrierte Geschichte des Unterrichtswesens. Eugen Diederichs Verlag.
Schärling, A. (2003). Compter avec des jetons. Tables à calculer et tables de compte du Moyen Âge à la Révolution. Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes.
di Simone, M.R. (1999). La admisión. En Ridder-Symoens, H. de (dir.), La universidad en la Europa moderna temprana (1500-1800) (vol. II, pp. 303-345). Servicio Editorial. Universidad del País Vasco.
Stallybrass, P., Chartier, R., Mowery, J. F., & Wolfe (2004). Hamlet's Tables and the Technologies of Writing in Renaissance England. Shakespeare Quarterly, 55(4), 379-419. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3844198
Stone, L. (1964). The Educational Revolution in England, 1560-1640. Past & Present, 28(1), 41-80. https://doi.org/10.1093/past/28.1.41
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