La Escuela del Maestro Rafael Cordero

Rafael Cordero Molina, was a self-taught Puerto Rican who provided free education to children regardless of race or social position. He is considered the Father of Public Education in Puerto Rico.

The scene takes place in the humble house of the teacher, whose room was used as a workshop to make tobacco and mend shoes, and as a teaching room for the children of the capital city of San Juan.

In the small area, we see very significant elements in the life of Rafael Cordero.

In the lower right corner, the table for spinning tobacco.

On the walls, religious images presided over by a Crucificado; next to it, the whip use during that era for discipline.

In the background, a door through which sun, sky and tropical vegetation sneak into the heart of urban San Juan.

We see the teacher seated in a wooden chair, dressed in a white shirt and a cloth that covers his head. He focuses his gaze towards the viewer of the painting. In front of him, several children participate in the class.

There are historical references that point that many important people in the history of Puerto Rico were among the students welcomed by the teacher Rafael Cordero. 

Among them are the journalist and defender of the abolition of slavery José Julián Acosta, the poet Alejandro Tapia y Rivera and the writer Manuel Izaburu Vizcarrondo, the latter two also founding members of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño.