humanities discussion

In this discussion, you will work to understand the meaning of an image in much the same way you will work to understand images for your Museum Project.

Choose one of the three images below, and think about it in terms of what John Berger calls “ways of seeing” (from unit 4). Write a 150-300-word discussion post including Berger’s insights and interpreting the painting in light of your experience of it. Be sure to explain what assumptions the artist is making about his audience, what the painting may be intended to accomplish, and how the painting might fail to accomplish that in our contemporary culture.

For instance, notice that the title of the Wtewael piece (pronounced oo-tuh-vawl) includes “with the Parable of the Great Supper.” What does the viewer need to know for this to be meaningful? What is the author trying to accomplish by portraying both a mundane event (kitchen scene) and a monumental one in the same painting? And why might our culture (with its attitudes toward the sacred and profane) not be a particularly fitting audience for this piece?

Click on the thumbprint image to see a larger image.

Banksy – One
Original ThoughtGarfield – Cutting a
Swath to the
White HouseWtewael – Kitchen Scene
with the Parable of the
Great Supper

NOOOO PLAGIARIZING