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Catalog Data

Artist:
Hans Kaspar Lang the Elder, Swiss, 1571 – 1645  Search this
Medium:
Pen and brown ink, brown wash
Dimensions:
29.5 x 19 cm (11 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. )
Type:
glasswares
Drawing
Object Name:
Drawing
Date:
1606
Catalogue Status:
Research in Progress
Description:
Seated woman holding a stick in her right hand, the personification of Grammar (Grammatica), presides over a boys' schoolroom shown during a lesson. She is talking to one pupil, who stands before her, as she checks his writing book; another pupil stands behind, waiting his turn for her inspection. Five more pupils are seated in the background, performing their assignments; one pupil enters the doorway at right. books, notably a grammar of Aelius (inscribed "DONATUS" is on the floor at the lower left, at the foot of Grammatica's ornate chair (decorated with the bust of a winged sphinx). The scene is set within an architectural framework. "GRAMMA/TICA" is inscribed in an escutcheon at top, center, flanked by two putti. Two escutcheons arranged at the bottom center bear the faint initials: "H" (at left); and "L" (at right); the 1606 date is inscribed "16" to the left of the left escutcheon and "06" to the right of the right escutcheon. A laurel-wreathed man's head (a bust) is in the niche to the left of the main scene, above a putto and an animal's head.
Credit Line:
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number:
1911-28-129
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department
Data Source:
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kq42108ad03-17bf-4f0b-93f0-db4a1ccd3df4
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:chndm_1911-28-129