This can be seen in ‘Schreibunterricht II’ (Reading Lesson II), which depicts two young girls concentrated on their reading lesson. The ingenuousness with which Anker portrays this scene belies the counter-culture message behind it: in order to create a better society, women should be educated, too. When the painting won the gold medal at the Paris salon in 1866, a Swiss newspaper published a version of it above the caption: ‘The Little Bluestockings’, a term which by then had taken on a negative connotation, signifying the futility of allowing women to become educated.

Not all of Anker’s paintings were aimed at social improvement, but practically all of them were a form of social commentary. His works often celebrate children simply in the joy or the intensity of the moment, such as in ‘Der kleine Bruder’ (The Little Brother). With a regard, an expression – in the tradition of Baroque portraitists such as Rembrandt, Hals and Velazquez – Anker manages to reveal the mind of his subjects. The young child, eyes wide and flashing with a mischievous glint, brings us back to the time in our lives when everything was new, fascinating, to be explored. The gaze of his sister, at once amused and protective, speaks volumes, and creates an atmosphere which is at once a snapshot of a moment and an homage to the bonds that can unite a family.