Transcript Levels 3 – 5 – 7

Images of Jesus in the
Global Art of Today
How do the global Christian communities
picture their leader Jesus? Can the global art
of Christians make images of God? Does the
art of the global church open the Bible with
spiritual power?
Using and making ‘Jesus Pictures’
Carol is 7. In her
piece of work,
she is speculating
about the arrival
of Jesus in her
own community
(Thurmaston is a
suburb of
Leicester, UK).
The work reflects
her knowledge of
stories of Jesus as
a person who is a
worshipper, who
believes in God as
‘father’, who has
fishermen as
disciples, and
who helps those
in trouble. This is
a lot of learning!
2
Calm
1
2
3
4
5
6
Simple
1
2
3
4
5
6
Complex
Ancient
1
2
3
4
5
6
Modern
Detailed
1
2
3
4
5
6
Sketchy
Easy
1
2
3
4
5
6
Difficult
Accurate to
the Bible
1
2
3
4
5
6
Far from the
Bible story
Clear
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mysterious
Not very
moving
1
2
3
4
5
6
Spiritually
powerful
Imaginative
1
2
3
4
5
6
Literal
Peaceful
1
2
3
4
5
6
Disturbing
Rational
1
2
3
4
5
6
Emotional
???
1
2
3
4
5
6
???
Energetic
Judgement tasks are a
powerful part of moving
learners beyond
information.
Use the 12 alternatives
to respond with our
judgements to the
picture you have.
Note that the time spent
on this enables visual
learning to be focused:
Look + Think = Learn
“The disciples and Jesus are happy. They are
having dinner. But the dark is closing in.” Harry, 7
Picturing Easter / Copyright RE Today
2007
Emilia, 8, writes: “My picture is based on
Palm Sunday and it is called ‘Waiting for
Jesus in Surprise.’ My picture shows
everybody was surprised to see Jesus riding
on a donkey as he came into Jerusalem. It
shows that on that day, everyone loved
Jesus, and Jesus loves everyone.”
Her vivid figures, with their merry eyes, bring
the scene to life. An angelic observer wings
away to give a progress report to Heaven.
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
RE Today
6
Kelsey, 8, has made this picture
of the ascension story. She
writes:
“An angel came and carried
Jesus up to heaven to live with
God his father. His disciples
watched him go, and they knew
that he really was the Son of
God.”
This story is a mysterious one
in the gospels. Kelsey’s
watercolour figures are ethereal
in their own way.
How can the story be painted to
show that there is more to it
than just a literal meaning?
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
RE Today
7
Tony, 8, created this amazingly
expressive image of the story
of Zacchaeus. This traitorous,
Roman~ collaborating tax
collector persuaded by Jesus
to repent of his selfish and
avaricious way of life.
The disdainful jealousy of the
onlookers is particularly well
expressed in their wax crayon
faces.
The image gets beyond the
story, to touch upon the
importance of generosity. Sk
pupils to choose words to
describe the expressions of
the faces, and a title for the
work as a whole.
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
RE Today
8
This activity takes some difficult
teaching of Jesus – the Beatitudes, from
the Sermon on the Mount, and asks
pupils to create a cartoon-style drawing
that expresses the teaching.
In this example, Dan, 10, brings verve
and humour to the persecution of
followers of Christ.
The work opens up all kinds of
possibilities for exploring the teaching of
Jesus, and for looking at questions of
prejudice and discrimination.
Ask pupils to create cartoons for some
more of Jesus’ surprising sayings, trying
to get at the meaning of the teaching.
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
RE Today
9
Sunset at the Cross by Nathan, 10
“When I first painted ‘Sunset at the
Cross’ I tried to paint the scene of
Jesus death. I believe that this painting
reflects the sadness of it. I put a yellow
glow around Jesus to show that he is
the Son of God. I also painted Jesus in
the rags the Romans would have put
on him as well as a crown of thorns. I
painted this painting with water colours
then went over with chalk crayons in
some places. I would like to end by
saying that I am very proud of my
painting.”
This unusually evocative work by ten year
old Nathan aims to go beyond detail of the
story to the significance of the event.
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
What makes it a successful painting? RE Today
10
Pieta, by Caen, 11.
“I made my painting of Jesus
after looking at one called ‘Pieta’
(Pity). Pieta affected me because
it had a clear message on Jesus’s
face saying how sad he was at
the time. The artist had clearly
thought she was in the mind of
Jesus and drew him as though
she was at the crucifixion beside
Jesus. The sketch was different
shades of grey in different
sections of the picture. The
colours were pretty dull but it
showed Jesus was sad and also
to make us sad.”
This very interesting commentary
shows how pupils can learn from the
story and from the work of an artist.
What can pupils learn from the
paintings in ‘Picturing Jesus: Fresh
Ideas’?
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
RE Today
11
Daniel, 12, has created this image of Jesus calming the storm with poster
paint.
“I am symbolising Jesus’ power in his body language, and his facial
expression. The boat is overwhelmed
by the waves, but the waves are
Picturing Jesus: Fresh Ideas
RE Today bolts of powerful light burst.”
overwhelmed by Jesus. From his fingers,
12
Selfless love
Incarnation
Jesus was a person who
Christians believe Jesus
didn’t think of himself,
was an ordinary human
but gave freely and
person, but at the same
generously to others.
time he was truly ‘God on
Never more obvious than
earth’.
in his last days.
Trinity
Christians believe that
Jesus is God, and that
his Father is God, and
that the Holy Spirit is
God. This three~in~one
belief about God is called
‘the Holy Trinity’
Inspiration
Some people have a
capacity to inspire,
excite, motivate others.
People want to be with
them and follow them.
Jesus did this.
Salvation
Christians believe that
Jesus wasn’t just an
ordinary person. He was
sent by God to save the
world from our own bad
choices and from evil.
Kindness
For Christians Jesus is
someone who was kind
to people others didn’t
bother about. They try to
do the same.
Forgiveness
Jesus taught people to
forgive, even an enemy.
And he showed them
how, when he did it
himself, from his cross.
Hope
Even though the world is
a mess, Christians
believe Jesus brings
hope for the future on
earth and in heaven.
Jesus proved the
possibility of hope in
many ways.
Strength
Christians think that
Jesus was strong
because he was in touch
with God. He used his
strength to help others,
not for selfish reasons.
Aims and learning intentions
• This presentation provides for pupils to think about the life,
teaching and example of Jesus, referring to the global
contemporary art of the gospel narratives
• One theological aspect of the art of Christian communities is
incarnational: Christians make art which makes their ‘far away
and long ago’ sacred story happen in their own ‘here and now’.
• In RE, creative, thoughtful and purposeful writing can energise
pupils’ motivation and learning. These tasks are supposed to
demonstrate such approaches.
• These learning activities are adaptable. While they are
demonstrated with reference to a piece of work for a particular
age group, teachers can easily adjust them to be more demanding,
or more accessible.
• The learning activities are described in ways that can be used
directly with pupils, with a selection of these slides as a stimulus
for their work.
14
Why use the global
art of Jesus to teach & learn?
• A work of art is an open window onto the Bible
and into the community where it was made.
• These works tell stories, reveal conceptual
depth, generate curiosity and inspire reflection.
• The Christian faith is global in reach, and these
are all global acts of worship
• Learning from Jesus is specially facilitated by
this approach – exploring questions of meaning,
purpose, values and identity