![Jan Miense Molenaer - The Dentist [1629]](http://farm1.staticflickr.com/765/20938081044_730af84147_o.jpg)
One of the earliest dated pictures by Molenaer, The Dentist points to his probable training in the workshops of both Frans and Dirck Hals. In comparable works by Frans Hals, the figures’ animated actions and lively expressions both engage and amuse the viewer. Molenaer’s grimacing young patient makes a similar impression, enhanced, at least in the eyes of the Protestant Dutch, by his misplaced trust in the rosary he clutches. His prayers seem to have little effect on the pain he suffers at the hand of the fancifully dressed dentist. Dentists, who were routinely portrayed as quacks during the period, had a reputation for extracting money as well as teeth from unsuspecting patients.
[North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh - Oil on cradled panel, 58.7 x 80.2 cm]