The Little Schoolmistress

There are three extant versions of The Little Schoolmistress: a signed painting in the National Gallery, London; an unsigned canvas in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; and the signed painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. One version was exhibited at the Salon of 1740. The broader dissemination of the image was assured through its engraved replication in a print published by Fran�ois-Bernard L�pici� that same year.

There is an uncertainty whether any of the three extant versions is the painting exhibited by Chardin and released as an engraving by L�pici� in 1740, since none of the three versions is exactly matched by the engraving.