Exploring the Image of God with Sacred Art

Transcription

1 Exploring the Image of God with Sacred Art UNIT 5, LESSON 1 Learning Goals God calls each of us to love as He loves, and this call is written in our bodies. We are made in God s image and likeness and are meant to be self-gift to one another. God s plan is in some way knowable to us through contemplation of the beauty, wonder, and mystery of creation. Connection to the Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 42 CCC 341 CCC 359 Vocabulary Wonder Mystery BIBLICAL TOUCHSTONES When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church. COLOSSIANS 1:24 PSALM 8:

2 Lesson LESSON PLAN Plan Materials Wonder and the Image of God Cape Cod Morning The Starry Night Studies for the Libyan Sibyl DAY ONE Wonder and the Image of God The Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh Cape Cod Morning, by Edward Hopper Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, by Michelangelo Buonarroti Warm-Up A. Project an image of all three paintings (The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, Cape Cod Morning by Edward Hopper and Studies for the Libyan Sibyl by Michelangelo Buonarroti) from Wonder and the Image of God (page 335). Give students several minutes to quietly view the images before you say or ask anything. Allow them to come up and stand closer to the image to examine details. B. Once several minutes have passed, ask students: C. Read Psalm 8:4-9 aloud to your students: 335 What do you first notice about these works of art? Which painting stands out to you the most? Why? What do you like about these works of art? How do these works of art make you feel? Why do you think these paintings are being shown together? When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, put all things at his feet: All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas. D. Ask your students which of the paintings the Psalm makes them think of, and why. 652 SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS

3 LESSON PLAN Activity A. Arrange your students in small groups and give each group a copy of either The Starry Night, Cape Code Morning, or Studies for the Libyan Sibyl. Images may be found in the Sacred Art Library at SophiaInstituteforTeachers.org/ SpiritofTruthSupplements. Have students discuss with each other the questions about the painting they were assigned on Wonder and the Image of God Discussion (page 336). During this time, focus on keeping students intent on the artwork and the discussion questions, letting their conversations go in unexpected ways. Note: The images and reflections for The Starry Night, Cape Code Morning, or Studies for the Libyan Sibyl were taken from Called to Love: A Companion by Paige Sanchez, a supplemental guide to Called to Love: Approaching John Paul II s Theology of the Body by Carl Anderson and Jose Granados. 336 Wonder and the Image of God Discussion Directions: Take Cape some time Cod to Morning quietly view Discussion and reflect Questions the art assigned to you. Let yourself be inspired in any way that happens naturally. Then think about the 1. In the Cape Cod Morning painting, the time of day is morning. What do you think that questions below, and discuss them with your classmates. tells us about what the woman in the window is thinking and feeling as she looks out the window? 1. What do you first 2. notice How does about this this painting artwork? depict a sense of expectation or anticipation for the unknown future? 2. What is the artist depicting in this artwork? How do you think he feels about what he s painting? What makes There you is think great that? contrast between the hopefulness of the bright morning light shining in the window and the foreboding darkness of the forest. This contrast helps to create a sense of 3. Is this painting more realistic or stylized? Why do you think the artist chose to depict the mystery in the painting. Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the subject of his painting in this way? corresponding questions: The world calls forth wonder, not because it lacks meaning but because it is saturated with it. The Starry Night Discussion Mystery is that Questions which has infinite intelligibility (the ability to be understood). Mystery is not an 1. The Starry Night painting enemy, portrays but a help, the because contrast it makes between man life ask. and And death: every the asking bright leads stars to prayer. The experience in the sky are contrasted and revelation with the of darkness love signals and the peace truth of of the man s village being below. as the Further, birthplace the of wonder. tree found in the foreground of the painting is a cypress, which traditionally represents a. What do you think the woman in the painting is looking at? mourning. Despite this, many describe the painting as depicting hope. Why do you think b. How does the contrast between light and dark and the mystery of the woman s gaze lead they come to this conclusion? Do you agree? Why or why not? one to contemplate God? The church spire in the town can be understood to represent man and the tree in the foreground to represent nature. Both are reaching toward the heavens. Read the following Studies for the Libyan Sibyl Discussion Questions reflection about wonder and then discuss the corresponding questions: 1. This drawing was made by Michelangelo to study the way the human body moves in order Wonder gives birth to questions prepare for about a larger who painting man is and of a is woman a reference on the to ceiling something of the greater Sistine Chapel. The model than him. The questions who posed provoked for by this wonder drawing are was not a just male posed because to thin women air but were to Someone not allowed who to pose. What in listens and answers this through drawing man s tells daily us that experiences, Michelangelo which worked invite an to perfect ever deeper his artwork inquiry. and did not settle for a. How does this painting something cause less you than to that wonder perfection? at God s creation? What does this painting reveal about 2. the This relationship drawing creates between a peculiar God and sense His creation? of watching a human person being made bit by bit, b. How does an experience from toes of to beauty fingers in to nature the head. or How in art might cause that us to reflection wonder on about this God drawing and help us to our own existence? understand God s work of creating not only human beings but all of His creation? Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions: Man is able to experience wonder because he is in the body. The body is that through which man receives and participates in reality. Man has the capacity to experience his body, and his very existence, as gift, inaugurating a relationship with the original Giver. Man s body reveals that he is made for and is open to communion. a. How does this depiction of the human body suggest an openness to God and to relationship with others? b. What does the fact that the figure in this drawing is not complete suggest about man s experience and participation in reality? What does it suggest about his relationship with God? 337 Formative Assessment A. Circulate among the groups, listening to their discussions, keeping them on task, and offering insights or clarification where needed. B. Before moving on to the next activity, have each group write one question they would ask the artist about his painting and turn it in. DAY TWO Warm-Up A. One at a time, project each image from The Starry Night, Cape Code Morning, or Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, and read aloud a few of the most interesting questions offered by the student groups the previous day. Allow students to share their reactions and other personal responses to the art. B. Explain to your students that in this unit of study, we are going to be considering God s plan for human sexuality and how His call to each of us to love as He loves is written in our bodies. We are going to learn about how we are made in God s image and likeness and how we are meant to be self-gift to one another. Each of these paintings portrays some aspect of the beauty, wonder, and mystery of God s plan. Unit 5, lesson 1 653

4 LESSON PLAN Activity and Assessment A. Arrange students in the groups they were in the previous day. Give each group a copy of the art they were previously assigned, and have them skim over the questions they discussed the previous day. Then project again each image and call on each group in turn to share their answers to each of the questions as they correspond to the images. B. Conclude by giving each group a few minutes to discuss the following for their painting: Imagine that each of these pieces of art was exactly what God saw when He looked at His creation. In other words, through these paintings, you are looking through God s eyes. How do you think these works of art help us understand God s perspective on creation specifically, on humanity? C. After students have had sufficient time to discuss the question, call on each group to share their answer. DAY THREE Warm-Up A. Project Colossians 1:24-27; 2:2, and have a student stand and read it aloud: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love. B. Ask your students the following questions: This is a difficult passage to understand fully. Although it seems to imply that something is incomplete in Christ s sacrifice on the Cross, this is not what St. Paul means. Rather, he is suggesting that as a minister of the Church, in his own sufferings, he makes Christ s sufferings known to those for whom He died. What is it that St. Paul suggests the sufferings of his flesh make known that has been hidden from ages and from generations past? The mystery of God. What is this mystery of God? Christ in (us), the hope for glory. C. Explain to your students that in this unit, as we study human sexuality and God s gift of marital love, we are going to discover that from the very beginning, God made Himself known to us and made us a living sign of His love. Christ completed God s plan for salvation by His sacrifice on the Cross and gave us a model. Therefore, we are all called to love as God loves, as Christ loved His Bride, the Church, and gave His life for the Church. 654 SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS

5 LESSON PLAN Activity and Assessment Using the Unit 5 Copywork pages, which can be found in the student workbook or online at SophiaInstituteforTeachers.org/SpiritofTruthSupplements, have students write out and commit to memory some (or all) of the following Bible verses. These passages have been selected because of their importance to the topics covered in this unit. Give students a few minutes each day to study them and practice recitation and writing. Note: Students DO NOT need to memorize all of these passages. This is a list of suggestions. You might consider selecting the ones that were particularly meaningful in your own class discussions.. Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. GENESIS 1:26-27 ӹ ӹ This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called woman, for out of man this one has been taken. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame. GENESIS 2:23-25 Blessed are the clean [pure] of heart, for they will see God. MATTHEW 5:8 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20 Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Then the angel departed from her. LUKE 1:38 When Elizabeth heard Mary s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. LUKE 1:41-42 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one s life for one s friends. JOHN 15:11-13 Unit 5, lesson 1 655

6 Wonder and the Image of God The Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh Cape Cod Morning, by Edward Hopper Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, by Michelangelo Buonarroti SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS

7 Answer Key The Starry Night 1. Accept reasoned answers. 2. The Starry Night depicts a vast night sky filled with swirling clouds, bright shining stars, and a crescent moon, all over a small town below. A large cypress tree is in the foreground of the painting. 3. Accept reasoned answers. Discussion Questions Wonder and the Image of God Discussion Directions: Take some time to quietly view and reflect on the art assigned to you. Let yourself be inspired in any way that happens naturally. Then think about the questions below, and discuss them with your classmates. 1. What do you first notice about this artwork? 2. What is the artist depicting in this artwork? How do you think he feels about what he s painting? What makes you think that? 3. Is this painting more realistic or stylized? Why do you think the artist chose to depict the subject of his painting in this way? The Starry Night Discussion Questions 1. The Starry Night painting portrays the contrast between life and death: the bright stars in the sky are contrasted with the darkness and peace of the village below. Further, the tree found in the foreground of the painting is a cypress, which traditionally represents mourning. Despite this, many describe the painting as depicting hope. Why do you think they come to this conclusion? Do you agree? Why or why not? The church spire in the town can be understood to represent man and the tree in the foreground to represent nature. Both are reaching toward the heavens. Read the following reflection about wonder and then discuss the corresponding questions: Wonder gives birth to questions about who man is and is a reference to something greater than him. The questions provoked by wonder are not just posed to thin air but to Someone who listens and answers through man s daily experiences, which invite an ever deeper inquiry. a. How does this painting cause you to wonder at God s creation? What does this painting reveal about the relationship between God and His creation? b. How does an experience of beauty in nature or in art cause us to wonder about God and our own existence? 1. Accept reasoned answers but may include reference to the brightness of the stars and the moon shining through the darkness. 336 a. Accept reasoned answers but may include reference to God being a light in the darkness or that man wonders about God through the beauty of creation. b. An experience of beauty can cause us to be in awe or wonder at the creator or source of that beauty. Since there is great beauty in the human experience, it causes us to be in awe and wonder at our own creator, God. Unit 5, lesson 1 657

8 Answer Key Cape Cod Morning 1. Accept reasoned answers. 2. Cape Cod Morning depicts a woman looking out a window into the morning light. There is a dark forest or grove of trees in the background, but what seems to be an open space or field before her is bathed in light. 3. Accept reasoned answers. Cape Cod Morning Discussion Questions 1. In the Cape Cod Morning painting, the time of day is morning. What do you think that tells us about what the woman in the window is thinking and feeling as she looks out the window? 2. How does this painting depict a sense of expectation or anticipation for the unknown future? There is great contrast between the hopefulness of the bright morning light shining in the window and the foreboding darkness of the forest. This contrast helps to create a sense of mystery in the painting. Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions: The world calls forth wonder, not because it lacks meaning but because it is saturated with it. Mystery is that which has infinite intelligibility (the ability to be understood). Mystery is not an enemy, but a help, because it makes man ask. And every asking leads to prayer. The experience and revelation of love signals the truth of man s being as the birthplace of wonder. a. What do you think the woman in the painting is looking at? b. How does the contrast between light and dark and the mystery of the woman s gaze lead one to contemplate God? Studies for the Libyan Sibyl Discussion Questions 1. This drawing was made by Michelangelo to study the way the human body moves in order to prepare for a larger painting of a woman on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The model who posed for this drawing was a male because women were not allowed to pose. What in this drawing tells us that Michelangelo worked to perfect his artwork and did not settle for something less than that perfection? 2. This drawing creates a peculiar sense of watching a human person being made bit by bit, from toes to fingers to the head. How might that reflection on this drawing help us to understand God s work of creating not only human beings but all of His creation? Discussion Questions 1. Accept reasoned answers. Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions: Man is able to experience wonder because he is in the body. The body is that through which man receives and participates in reality. Man has the capacity to experience his body, and his very existence, as gift, inaugurating a relationship with the original Giver. Man s body reveals that he is made for and is open to communion. a. How does this depiction of the human body suggest an openness to God and to relationship with others? b. What does the fact that the figure in this drawing is not complete suggest about man s experience and participation in reality? What does it suggest about his relationship with God? 2. The woman is inside the house, confined by the walls of the house 337 and the glass of the window, her present situation. She looks out in the unknown, which is bathed in bright morning light, perhaps indicating hopeful anticipation. a. Accept reasoned answers. b. God is, to a certain extent, a mystery. Although He reveals Himself to us and His existence can be known by us, we will never fully understand Him and His ways. Therefore, we look forward in anticipation to the next life, when we will be with Him in heaven and know Him in ways not possible in this earthly life. 658 SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS

9 Answer Key Studies for the Libyan Sibyl 1. Accept reasoned answers. 2. Studies for the Libyan Sibyl is a drawing of a nude male model made in preparation for painting a larger female form on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The figure is twisting at the waist and has outstretched arms. 3. Accept reasoned answers. Discussion Questions 1. Michelangelo clearly started his drawing over. On the left of the image is his first attempt, which he was not satisfied with. He then began the drawing again. 2. Accept reasoned answers. a. Because the figure is nude, there is nothing to hide. The openness of the arms is inviting and not guarding or defensive. The movement of the body is toward the viewer, perhaps moving to be better positioned to another and to God. b. God made each one of us in His image with a soul and a body. It is in and through our bodies in this earthly life that we experience and participate in everything. Those experiences are not complete. We are always in a state of becoming, of moving, of growing in relationship to reality and to God. Unit 5, lesson 1 659

10 Notes 660 SOPHIA INSTITUTE FOR TEACHERS

11 Wonder and the Image of God The Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh Cape Cod Morning, by Edward Hopper Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, by Michelangelo Buonarroti Unit 5, Lesson 1 335

12 Wonder and the Image of God Discussion Directions: Take some time to quietly view and reflect on the art assigned to you. Let yourself be inspired in any way that happens naturally. Then think about the questions below, and discuss them with your classmates. 1. What do you first notice about this artwork? 2. What is the artist depicting in this artwork? How do you think he feels about what he s painting? What makes you think that? 3. Is this painting more realistic or stylized? Why do you think the artist chose to depict the subject of his painting in this way? The Starry Night Discussion Questions 1. The Starry Night painting portrays the contrast between life and death: the bright stars in the sky are contrasted with the darkness and peace of the village below. Further, the tree found in the foreground of the painting is a cypress, which traditionally represents mourning. Despite this, many describe the painting as depicting hope. Why do you think they come to this conclusion? Do you agree? Why or why not? The church spire in the town can be understood to represent man and the tree in the foreground to represent nature. Both are reaching toward the heavens. Read the following reflection about wonder and then discuss the corresponding questions: Wonder gives birth to questions about who man is and is a reference to something greater than him. The questions provoked by wonder are not just posed to thin air but to Someone who listens and answers through man s daily experiences, which invite an ever deeper inquiry. a. How does this painting cause you to wonder at God s creation? What does this painting reveal about the relationship between God and His creation? b. How does an experience of beauty in nature or in art cause us to wonder about God and our own existence? 336 Unit 5, Lesson 1

13 Cape Cod Morning Discussion Questions 1. In the Cape Cod Morning painting, the time of day is morning. What do you think that tells us about what the woman in the window is thinking and feeling as she looks out the window? 2. How does this painting depict a sense of expectation or anticipation for the unknown future? There is great contrast between the hopefulness of the bright morning light shining in the window and the foreboding darkness of the forest. This contrast helps to create a sense of mystery in the painting. Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions: The world calls forth wonder, not because it lacks meaning but because it is saturated with it. Mystery is that which has infinite intelligibility (the ability to be understood). Mystery is not an enemy, but a help, because it makes man ask. And every asking leads to prayer. The experience and revelation of love signals the truth of man s being as the birthplace of wonder. a. What do you think the woman in the painting is looking at? b. How does the contrast between light and dark and the mystery of the woman s gaze lead one to contemplate God? Studies for the Libyan Sibyl Discussion Questions 1. This drawing was made by Michelangelo to study the way the human body moves in order to prepare for a larger painting of a woman on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The model who posed for this drawing was a male because women were not allowed to pose. What in this drawing tells us that Michelangelo worked to perfect his artwork and did not settle for something less than that perfection? 2. This drawing creates a peculiar sense of watching a human person being made bit by bit, from toes to fingers to the head. How might that reflection on this drawing help us to understand God s work of creating not only human beings but all of His creation? Read the following reflection about mystery and then discuss the corresponding questions: Man is able to experience wonder because he is in the body. The body is that through which man receives and participates in reality. Man has the capacity to experience his body, and his very existence, as gift, inaugurating a relationship with the original Giver. Man s body reveals that he is made for and is open to communion. a. How does this depiction of the human body suggest an openness to God and to relationship with others? b. What does the fact that the figure in this drawing is not complete suggest about man s experience and participation in reality? What does it suggest about his relationship with God? Unit 5, Lesson 1 337

14 Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 338 Unit 5 Copywork

15 Genesis 2:23-25 This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called woman, for out of man this one has been taken. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame. Unit 5 Copywork 339

16 Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the clean [pure] of heart, for they will see God. 340 Unit 5 Copywork

17 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. Unit 5 Copywork 341

18 Luke 1:38 Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Then the angel departed from her. 342 Unit 5 Copywork

19 Luke 1:41-42 When Elizabeth heard Mary s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Unit 5 Copywork 343

20 John 15:11-13 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one s life for one s friends. 344 Unit 5 Copywork