# Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, Known as The Dancing Lesson

- By: Jan Havicksz. Steen (Leiden, ca. –1679)
- Date: 1660 - 1679
- Medium: panel, oil paint (paint)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: height 68.5 cm x width 59 cm
- Credit line: Jonkheer J.S.H. van de Poll Bequest, Amsterdam
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-718--40acc398a86a306d05d286fa947cffcc)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/zpbFV/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

These children are up to mischief: they are teaching a cat to dance to the music of a small shawm. Widely used between the 15th and 17th centuries, the shawm was the predecessor of the oboe. Mostly played in dance and ceremonial music, shawms were appreciated for their loud tone.