# The First Day of School

- By: Jean Baptiste Vanmour (Valenciennes, 1671–1737)
- Date: c. 1720 - c. 1737
- Medium: canvas, oil paint (paint)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: height 38.5 cm x width 53 cm
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-2005--444b9f05840eb831c27b68e16ecfee25)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/92e88b1b28396d22b0869325d43bfc60.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A mother, accompanied by a group of women, brings her daughter to school for the first time. That the women are Turkish can be seen from their colourful clothing and the yellow slippers that only Muslims could wear, according to sumptuary laws (dress codes). A servant carries the girl’s embroidery frame. Needlework was a favourite pastime of women in affluent Turkish circles. Women held in slavery did the household chores.