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Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, Known as ‘The Dancing Lesson’ is held by Rijksmuseum.

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Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, Known as ‘The Dancing Lesson’ is associated with Dutch Golden Age.

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Museum-quality prints of Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, Known as ‘The Dancing Lesson’ are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, Known as ‘The Dancing Lesson’ by Jan Steen (1669)

About this work

Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, also called The Dancing Lesson, is an oil‑on‑panel painting by Dutch artist Jan Steen.

Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, also called The Dancing Lesson, is an oil‑on‑panel painting by Dutch artist Jan Steen. It was made around 1669. The work is a genre painting that shows a light‑hearted domestic scene, a typical subject for Steen.

It was executed in oil paint, a common medium for Dutch painters of the period. The piece is not linked to any specific art movement. It now belongs to the Rijksmuseum’s collection in Amsterdam. You can explore more at the Rijksmuseum.

Subject & Meaning

The painting depicts children engaged in chaotic play, using music and force to make a cat dance while a dog barks aggressively nearby. A shawm-playing girl and a boy blowing smoke set a rowdy tone, while an older man at a window looks on with disapproval, signaling moral censure of the children’s disorderly conduct.

Iconographic details underscore the scene’s satirical intent: a discarded white tablecloth, a silver bowl on a chair, and a clay pipe evoke unchecked sensual indulgence, while a frying pan on the floor suggests the hollowness of earthly pleasures. The girl’s loose-fitting red stockings and lute reference lust and female sexuality, aligning with contemporary Dutch moralizing traditions. Through these elements, the work functions as a cautionary genre scene, illustrating how children imitate the poor behavior of adults.

Technique & Style

The painting is executed in oil on panel, measuring 68.5 × 59 cm. It is a genre scene depicting children in an interior attempting to make a cat dance to the music of a shawm, with a dog barking and an old man observing disapprovingly from a window. Steen's handling features the characteristic disorder of his domestic interiors: a white tablecloth carelessly shoved aside persons, a pan on the floor against a chair, and expensive silverware placed precariously. The composition employs moralizing symbolism typical of the artist's negative exempla, earthly pleasures are suggested through the wine jug, clay pipe, and the girl's loose clothing with red stockings, while the lute carries associations with female sexuality. The scene exemplifies Steen's satirical approach to everyday Dutch life, presenting children's mischief as a deliberate model of improper behavior.

History & Provenance

Created by Jan Steen in 1669, *Children Teaching a Cat to Dance* is an oil-on-panel painting executed during the artist's mature period. The work remained in private hands until it entered the collection of Jonkheer Jacob Salomon Hendrik van de Poll in Amsterdam. Van de Poll, who lived from 1837 to 1880, bequeathed his entire art collection to the Rijksmuseum upon his death in 1880. This transfer established the painting's permanent residence in the Amsterdam museum, where it has been held since the late 19th century. No earlier commission details or intermediate owners are recorded in the available sources.

The painting is held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam under the inventory number SK-A-718. It entered the museum's collection in 1880 through a bequest from the Amsterdam collection of jonkheer Jacob Salomon Hendrik van de Poll. The work has been featured in several exhibitions, including "Satire en vermaak. Het genrestuk van Frans Hals en zijn tijdgenoten, 1610-1635" at the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem from September 20, 2003, to January 4, 2004, and "Miró, The Dutch interiors" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from October 5, 2010, to January 7, 2011.

Context

The painting is recognized as a quintessential example of Jan Steen's genre scenes that satirize bourgeois behavior, particularly the moral lessons conveyed through everyday domestic activities. Scholars note its significance within Steen's oeuvre as a commentary on parental responsibility and the transmission of vice, situating it within the broader context of 17th-century Dutch painting. The work's subject matter aligns with other interior genre pieces by Steen and contemporaries such as Frans Hals, reflecting a shared interest in depicting moralizing narratives through seemingly mundane moments. Its presence in the Rijksmuseum since the 1880 bequest of Jacob Salomon Hendrik van de Poll underscores its historical and institutional importance. The painting has been featured in major exhibitions, including 'Satire and Amusement: Frans Hals and His Contemporaries, 1610-1635' at the Frans Hals Museum and 'The Dutch Interiors' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, highlighting its enduring relevance in art historical discourse.