PICTURES may hold a primary or secondary place in teaching, according
to their nature and the aim of the teacher.
_The text itself_ may be the supreme thing, and pictures become mere
pictorial comments upon the text. Pictures when so used have the
nature of _views_ or _illustrations_. The picture at the head of this
page is a view. It is reproduced from a photograph taken directly
from nature. Such pictures are of great value in building up in the
mind clear images of objects or of scenes beyond the pupil's reach. A
map means almost nothing to a person unfamiliar with the country,
unless by means of numberless views the appearance of the country has
been made known to the mind. Every teacher in Sunday-school should
have a collection of photographic views of the historical sites of
the Bible, of implements, household utensils, articles of dress,
etc., which may be used to make clear the Biblical references to such
things. Without such illustrations words may convey little or no
meaning.
The first picture upon the next page may be called an illustration.
To a person unfamiliar with the text it might convey any meaning but
the true one; but to one familiar with the story of Christ and the
rich young ruler it is wonderfully graphic and satisfactory. The
words of the text take on a deeper meaning as they are studied in the
light of this picture. Because Hofmann is an artist, a man gifted
with imagination, he sees more clearly, more vividly than the average
person. Seen through his eyes what was before vague and unconvincing
becomes definite and powerful. Before seeing the picture the pupil
had heard the words:"Jesus, looking upon him, loved him." Now with
the picture he _sees_ that Jesus loves him and is anxious to have him
decide for life everlasting. Before "the poor" were abstract; now
they become a concrete reality. Before the pupil had been told that
the young man had "great possessions;" now he sees that he had also
health and beauty and intelligence, greater possessions than land and
gold. The Sunday-school teacher is fortunate who has at his command
pictures which illustrate, which make luminous the text. Plates 11,
20, 34, 39, 47, 62, 70, 101, 106, 133, and 143 may be mentioned as
notable examples of good illustrations to supplement the text.
[Illustration: Christ and the Young Ruler.]
Plate 112. _Christ and the Young Ruler._ H. Hofmann. 1824-
The picture itself may be the object of study, and the text become a
commentary upon the picture. For example, consider this picture by
Holman Hunt. Every detail has something important to say to the
pupil. The postures of these people and the costumes say "oriental."
The profuse ornamentation both of the architecture and the various
furnishings speak of extraordinary conditions. This is the temple
which was the wonder of the age (see Mark 13:1), and these are the
people who loved to go about in long clothing, and who "devoured
widows' houses" to be rich. (Matt. 23:14.) This boy with his pure
face and far-away-gazing eyes is he who had thoughts about "his
Father's house." The look in the woman's face is appreciated in the
light of what she is recorded as having said, "I have sought thee
sorrowing." (Luke 2:48.) That she rather than her husband should
speak to him is no surprise to one familiar with Matt. 1:18-25. The
faces of these serious-looking men must be read in the light of the
words, "And all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and
answers." One man has an ornamental box in his hand. What is that
for? Another has a similar box upon his forehead. Why? Deut. 6:6-8
and Matt. 23:5 will help answer those questions. A man is begging at
the entrance. It is not extraordinary in the light of Acts 3:1, 2,
and Mark 14:7. He begs in vain outside, while within a servant brings
wine to refresh those who will not so much as lift a finger to help
the burdened. (Matt. 23:4.) Beyond the beggar craftsmen are still at
work upon the temple. Yes, because when this child Jesus first
visited the temple it was not completed. "Forty and six years was
this temple in building." (John 2:20.) Birds are flying in and out!
"Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for
herself, . . . even thine altars, O Lord of Hosts." (Ps. 84:3.) The
little boy with the fly-driver tells the season of the year, the
light and the few worshippers and the idle musicians tell the time of
day. Everything has a message, even the ornament upon wall and floor!
That tells whence the Jews derived their art. This picture is more
than a commonplace illustration of a single text: it is a graphic
presentation of an era. The particular event is shown in its
historical setting. The picture is a supreme work of art.
[Illustration: Finding of Christ in the Temple.]
Plate 35. _Finding of Christ in the Temple._ Holman Hunt. 1827-
If pictures of this sort are to be studied, every pupil in the class
should have a copy. The teacher's business is to direct the pupil to
individual observation and inquiry. The perpetual questions should
be, What do you see? What does it mean? Why is that here? What does
it contribute to the total content of the picture? What does the
picture as a whole have to say? Plates 8, 9, 18, 25, 29, 33, 40, 81,
89, 93, 110, 139, 153, 159, and 167, might be mentioned among those
especially worthy of this analytical and exhaustive study.
Occasionally pupils will find both interest and profit in the
comparative study of a series of pictures. For example take the five
plates of The Annunciation, pages 9 and 10. After the facts have been
determined by a study of the text, the investigation may proceed as
follows: What are the essential elements found in all the pictures
alike? Which artist has told the story most simply and directly? The
different artists have emphasized or given special attention to some
one phase or phrase. Which has embodied more perfectly the first, or
the second, or the third? Which has introduced elements of his own?
Why? Do they help? Which has, on the whole, told the story most
vividly? Which most beautifully? A study of this group of pictures in
the light of such notes as will be found printed therewith, will
enable any teacher to formulate for himself a plan for studying any
other group of pictures.
In such study it is essential that each pupil be supplied with a
complete set of the pictures to be compared.
[Illustration: Madonna of the Shop.]
_Madonna._ Dagnan-Bouveret.
But the picture itself is sometimes not a thing to be consciously
analyzed and inventoried; it is simply a thing of beauty, "its own
excuse for being;" it is something to be received as a whole with
thankfulness, like the odor of wild grape vines, or the form of a
calla lily, or the color of a sunrise, or the music of wind in pine
trees. Such a picture is this Madonna of the Shop, by Dagnan-Bouveret.
One may think for a moment now and then of how well the picture is
composed, of how perfect a master of his art the man must be who
can make spots of paint suggest wood and metal, linen and wool, soft
flesh and softer light, but the mind returns again and again to the
contemplation of the wondrous sweet face of the Virgin, whose deep
eyes see unspeakable things. One comes to love such a picture as a
dear familiar friend, and to yield to its gentle influence as to
moonlight upon the sea. The contemplation of such pictures is one of
the purest pleasures of life, a foretaste of the sight of "the King
in his Beauty."