There are lots of children. Is that their grandfather?

No, it's a class. And the painting's called The Schoolmaster by von Ostad.

But look, no one's listening to him. Those kids are talking. The ones over there are fooling around. And that boy's pretending he's working.

Exactly like my class. Why have school in a barn? It's too dark.

And what's more, there's no blackboard either. And no desks.

Not even one drawing on the wall. The kids must be really sad.

You're right. Why is it like that? For some people, life wasn't so easy back then. It was 400 years ago in Holland. It must have been freezing in there.

And look at the teacher. He looks so mean. And the children, too. They're like little old men. Who would want a painting where everyone's so miserable? Somebody maybe went to a school like that.

Yeah, so he could show people what it was like. Hey, why does he have a spoon in his hand? Is it a cooking class? I think it's to hit the kids with, don't you? Come to think of it, it's not like my school at all. The Schoolmaster.

The Louvre Museum, Paris.