Artwork
Old Man Teaching a Boy to Read
Old Man Teaching a Boy to Read is an oil painting by the Spanish Baroque Tenebrist artist Antonio de Puga. It dates from 1640 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a work of genre art from 17th-century Spain, the piece focuses on the everyday reality of pedagogy rather than mythological or religious narrative.
Antonio de Puga's 1640 oil painting depicts a genre scene centered on an educational interaction between an elderly man and a young boy. The composition identifies the figures explicitly as a teacher and a schoolchild, capturing a moment of literacy instruction. As a work of genre art from 17th-century Spain, the piece focuses on the everyday reality of pedagogy rather than mythological or religious narrative.
The visual narrative emphasizes the transmission of knowledge, with the older figure guiding the younger student in the act of reading.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1640 by Antonio de Puga, this work is an oil painting on canvas. The composition measures 129.5 cm in height and 103.5 cm in width. Created in Spain, the piece is classified as a genre scene depicting an instructional moment between an elderly man and a young boy.
The application of oil paint on a woven canvas support reflects standard materials for Spanish Baroque panel and canvas works of the mid-seventeenth century.
History & Provenance
Antonio de Puga painted Old Man Teaching a Boy to Read in Spain around 1640, creating an oil on canvas depiction of an elderly instructor guiding a young student. The work entered the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, where it remains on display in the European paintings galleries.
The painting's provenance is documented through its acquisition by the Russian imperial court in the early 19th century, establishing a continuous chain of ownership from the artist's estate to the museum's holdings.
Measured at 129.5 cm by 103.5 cm, the canvas bears Puga's signature and inscription indicating its date of execution as 1640, confirming its creation history within the Spanish Baroque tradition.
The painting is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum and is catalogued under the accession number Inv. No. 5859.
It has been exhibited at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg as part of its permanent display of Old Master works.
Context
Antonio de Puga's 1640 oil painting on canvas, depicting an elderly instructor guiding a young student within a scholarly interior, exemplifies the genre scene tradition of Spain's Golden Age. The work's composition and pedagogical subject reflect contemporary Spanish artistic interests in moral instruction and domestic learning environments, situating it within the broader trajectory of European genre painting that emphasized didactic narratives.
Overview
Antonio de Puga, a Galician painter active in the early‑17th century, completed the oil work Old Man Teaching a Boy to Read around 1640. The canvas, now part of the State Hermitage Museum’s holdings, presents a quiet domestic scene that captures a moment of instruction between two figures.
Artist & collection
Artist
Antonio de Puga (1602 – 1648), was a Spanish Baroque painter. Antonio de Puga was born in Ourense, son of a tailor of the same name and Ynés Rodriguez. He was the first notable artist from Galicia, and through the…
