Teacher Instructing Pupils
ca. 1440
The Netherlands, Utrecht
MS M.917/945, pp. 62–63
Purchased on the Belle da Costa Greene Fund with the assistance of the Fellows, 1963
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Knowledge, the fifth gift of the Holy Spirit, is represented by this delightful schoolroom scene. Inspired by the Dove, the older kneeling student reads from a book proffered by his teacher. The young man's scroll reveals his inspiration, quoting from Psalm 2, verse 12, that the key to knowledge is the learning of discipline. The seated teacher holds a bundle of switches, the instrument of reprimand and attribute for instructors in the Middle Ages.