A Couple Hundred Pictures by Bonnie Buckingham

I forget the name of my favorite but I sure don’t forget its beauty (a 12 year old).

Charlotte Mason said paintings would “hang in the halls of her imagination.” “How do we prepare a child, again, to use the aesthetic sense with which he appears to come provided? His education should furnish him with whole galleries of mental pictures, pictures by great artists old and new; . . . ––in fact, every child should leave school with at least a couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in the halls of his imagination . . .” (Mason, 2015, p. 40). We read or listen to a Picture Study narration and know the student has stretched his imagination. “At any rate he should go forth well furnished because imagination has the property of magical expansion, the more it holds the more it will hold” (p. 40). Notice the word “more” used twice. It is from the Old English word mara, which means “greater, more, stronger, mightier.” This reminds me of Portia in The Merchant of Venice:

The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

‘T is mightiest in the mightiest;

Imaginations expand using what G.E. Husband said,“The value of narration does not lie wholly in the swift acquisition of knowledge and its sure retention. Properly dealt with, it produces a mental transfiguration” (emphasis mine) (Parents’ Review, “Some Notes on Narration”).

Here are ways for young people to narrate a Picture Study:

– sketch the composition

– retitle the artwork

– write a dialogue of the story within the painting

– act or pose the scene

– write the audio or make an audio file for the museum where the painting is exhibited for the audio tour

– write a poem

– write an obituary of the artist

– ask questions to the people in the painting, especially if it is a portrait

– write a newspaper or magazine article, now or when the artist lived

– narrate from one of the people in the painting

– describe using one of the senses: smell, color, what do you hear?

This term’s painter was Raphael. We worked through many different types of narrations and then a term examination. Here are a few examples from my high school students.

Write an obituary for our term’s artist.

Italy’s most beloved painter, Raphael Sanzio da Urbina, peacefully ascended to join the angels he so beautifully illustrated on April 6, 1520 after a brief illness ( 17 year old).

Raphael is commonly known as a famous and wonderful artist and painter, but the world often forgets about the human, the personality, and the life story behind the magnificent artwork ( 15 year old).

Few have mastered his brilliant color and sweet, tender expressions. The name Raphael inspires the same feelings as the word treasure or chocolate or winter, an instant lightning of mood. Raphael was so full of life that even now, when sorrow looms over, it can not crush the invincibility of his spirit ( 17 year old).

He died at the age of 37 after catching a cold while working in St. Peter’s Basilica. He is remembered for his gentle heart and kind soul that lives on through his paintings. Great crowds expected on the morrow as this great artist’s life will be celebrated at 4 p.m. In lieu of donating flowers, please donate your money to the Children’s Catholic Trade School so that young aspiring artists can continue to grow in their talents (16 year old).

Raphael (poem by a 16 year old)

On a rainy day in Italy,

An artist, born with hands of gold,

Returned to the earth from which he came.

He left a taste of Heaven,

Born from pain, the troubled years,

His streak of color in history’s heart.

At thirty-seven, he closed his eyes,

Leaving Eden in vaulted halls,

Gentle Madonnas in crimson robes.

Where would we be?

Without this gift of painted joy,

The soul of a lion and heart of a child.

On a rainy day in Italy,

An artist, born with hands of gold,

Returned to the earth from which he came.

Describe your favorite painting that you would like to see in person.

The Holy Family with the Lamb

This may possibly be the sacredness of the painting, the unclothed halo baby atop the lamb. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were not clothed and they felt shame. It seems to correlate with the baby in this painting: the halo and the sheep add to the sacredness of the painting (16 year old).

The baby has bare feet . . . perhaps this is a reference back to Moses and the burning bush when Moses stood in front of the bush. When Moses stood in front of the bush God told him to remove his shoes, for the place he stood was holy ground. In the picture of Jesus on the lamb, all the figures have bare feet, for they are the Holy Family and where they stand is holy ground (16 year old).

The holy mother looks down on her son as she remembers the promise that he is christened as the King of Heaven and the Lamb of God. A tall shepherd from the nearby kingdom stands protectively over them while the child plays with the lamb. Who would have known that this little boy would soon take the place of the lamb and save his mother, the shepherd, and the rest of the world from their sins? There will be plenty of time to think upon that later. For now Mary would focus on her chubby gift from God and play alongside him in the soft ivy (16 year old).

Part of an Audio for a museum: “Stored in Her Heart”

. . . Though we do not know the exact date it was revealed we do know from the age of the paint which is oil, that it was done in 1508. This happened to be right before Raphael left the town of Florence to the city of Rome. The details of this painting are quite magnificent. Notice the inscription on Mary’s bodice (Raphael’s signature), the soft smile that curls on the Holy Mother’s lips, and the gentle rolls in the Christ Child’s skin. Not only is it specific in its details, but this painting is spot on with the meanings behind every detail. For example, the colors were purposely chosen to signify beauty, love, and purity while the gesture of the child reaching towards his mother points to a oneness with man but also being completely God . . . . Enjoy your visit at The National Gallery in Washington, D.C (16 year old).

Poem (by a 17 year old)

First we see dimly the light in the darkness,

A pale slim reminder of grace to come,

Reaching out with angelic power,

Flown down from heaven above.

Will we ever realize the magnitude,

Of the sacrifice He made,

Leaving Father, life, and perfect power,

To be born in a cattle stall.

Will we ever learn to listen,

At the voice deep inside and high above,

Hear His voice, pause – listen,

The sacredness of God.

Out of the dark, out of sin,

Out of the pit of our own failings,

Through the muck and ruin of Eve,

Quiet footsteps are coming.

Listen; hear them ever closer,

Little do we know their price,

As He reaches to pull us up,

He slips down into the pit.

Shall we sing a praise to the Lord?

Shall we live forever thanking?

What could we possibly say,

That would state the magnitude of His grace.

Basking in forgiveness,

We live day to day,

Not in fear and in trembling,

But in praise of His mercy.

The Marriage of the Virgin

The colors, shapes, and architectural soundness of the painting generate a sort of unrealistic realism, much like Steven Spielberg’s Adventures of Tintin combining a reality within a reality (17 year old).

It surprised me that no one was smiled, maybe no one was excited about them coming together (14 year old).

Poem (by a 16 year old)

The wilderness is far away,

Beyond doors of burnished gold,

Squares of perfect symmetry

Lead to a scene of harmony.

The center of the universe

A living, holy family.

Curious, demure, and sometimes wroth

A group stands round

In styles of bygone age,

Legends are newborn

Among pastel skin, a sweeping world

An ornately, perfect family.