Education, work, psychology

 

Silvestro Lega, L' educazione al lavoro, 1863
Oil on Canvas, 91.5 x 67 cm
Private collection

The painting depicts a familiar interior in which the mother, seen from the back, is working to ravel the yarn into a skein, while a little girl, sitting on the ground before her, lets the thread through her hands to prevent it from getting tangled.

While helping the mother in her work, the child comprehends and introjects the value that is attributed to the social work of human beings.

In "The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis" Lacan argues that man’s desire finds its meaning and sense in the desire of the other: "desire is the desire of the Other's desire, meaning that desire is the object of another's desire and that desire is also desire for recognition".