Advent Visual Literacy Activity (Year A)

The following is background information about the images used in the illustrated story ‘Living in the Light with Jesus’. The visual literacy activity is structure around higher order thinking skills questions covering recall, analysis, comparison, inference and evaluation. Teachers can use the information to generate worksheets for classroom use. The numbered images are reproduced on the last pages of this document.

1. Colour

Colours used Where are they used in the pictures?

(see numbered images below)

What do they mean?

purple The clothing of King David (4).

The clothing of Jesus (5), (10) (14), (15) & (16).

Purple represents royalty and is worn by kings and queens.

For painting, it is made by mixing red and blue.

Yellow & orange Orange – a glow colour around some figures (3), (7), (9), (12).

Yellow - a glow colour around Jesus (1), (10), (14), (15) & (16) which extends to the children in (1) & (16).

Yellow & orange are used together in the sun shapes in (3), (7), (12) and in the star shapes (7) & (9).

Yellow and orange are warm colours used to represent light. Here it is God’s light, so wherever the yellow/orange appears, there God’s light shines.

Pink/blue/green Colours of nature: sky, water, leaves, flowers & creatures (1), (3), (7), (12), (14), (15), (16).

The colours of nature are rich and bright – they are illuminated by God’s light

Black Silhouetted figures: (3), (7), (9) & (12).

Blackened leaves & mud: (13).

When a person or thing stands in a lighten doorway, they are silhouetted against the light. The black figures emphasise the light by contrast.

Black is the absence of colour, so the blackened leaves and mud in (13) indicate the consequence of living in the dark – life is violent and unpleasant.

2. Isaiaha. What is the prophet Isaiah holding in image (2)? Isaiah is holding a scroll. Ancient Hebrew scrolls were made from the skins of kosher animals (generally there are animals which ruminate and have cloven hooves). b. What does this say about Isaiah?The scroll indicates that Isaiah was a great writer and an inspired teacher/prophet who predicted the coming of the Messiah. Luke’s gospel describes how Jesus read from ‘the scroll of the prophet Isaiah’ (Lk 4:16-22) in the Synagogue in Nazareth.

3. King Davida. What is the musical instrument that King David holds in image (4)? King David holds a lyre, which is a stringed instrument in the harp family. Lyres were widely used in the ancient world. b. What does the hexagram in image (4) mean? The hexagram is the Star of David. The star has a long Jewish history, but its links with King David are more mythical than factual. The symbol is also known as the Shield of David, which refers to its religious meaning: a symbol of God’s protection and of the eventual restoration of the line of King David. Today, the Star of David is used on the flag of the State of Israel.c. What do the symbols in image (4) say about King David?David was a charismatic figure in the history of ancient Israel. He was a great military leader and his life and exploits are recorded in several books in the Hebrew Scriptures: 1 Samuel 16-31; 2 Samuel 1-24; 1 Kings 1-2; and 1 Chronicles 10-29. He was the first to establish a united kingdom of Israel. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come from King David’s line. As well as being a heroic figure, David was musically gifted. His authorship of the psalms may be apocryphal, but there are several references in scripture to his musical compositions and performances of liturgical music.

4. Jesusa. How does the artist show that Jesus came from the family of David in image (5)? Jesus is wearing purple clothes – the same as those of King David.

b. How is baby Jesus like Mary in image (5)? Both Mary and Jesus have kiss curls. The artist used Mary’s facial features (reduced in size) for the face of baby Jesus.

c. Why do you think the artist put a golden glow around Jesus in image (10)?The glow around Jesus is like a halo, which is the traditional way of depicting holiness. A halo is an appropriate image here because it shows that Jesus is the source of God’s light. He is not reflecting God’s light, but glowing with it (see my comment about stars/angels below).

5. Marya. Who is in the picture that Mary is showing us in image (6)? Mary is pointing to a picture of her family. Of course this is an artist’s impression and no information about Mary’s family exists.b. What does this picture say about Mary? We know nothing of Mary’s background except that she was a Jewish country girl from the small town of Nazareth in Galilee. Her origins were humble. In her world, most people were peasant farmers. Before she married Joseph, Mary’s everyday life was probably dominated by a wide variety of domestic and farm related duties: in ancient Galilee, women helped in the fields and with raising and managing farm animals. In image (6), the artist does not present an historically accurate picture of Mary’s family, but she simply indicates that Mary’s origins were humble. The artist tries to show that Mary was a real person - an ordinary girl who was chosen by God for a special purpose. c. What does the star mean in image (7)? The star in this picture represents God’s angel. Since we don’t know what angel’s look like, the artist chose to use the image of a heavenly body (a visual metaphor). Most of the stars we see in the night sky are planets which reflect the light of the sun. Angels are like that, they are God’s messengers, who reflect God’s light to the world. The angel in image (7) was God’s messenger to Mary, telling her that she would be the Mother of Jesus.

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d. Image (6) and (7) are both about Mary – in what ways are the images different? In image (6) the figures, objects and colours depict the ordinary, domestic reality of Mary’s life. The artist is focusing on Mary. Then, in image (7) the point of view changes and the artist is standing behind Mary and the focus is on God’s light, which is depicted in bright colours.e. What do these two images say about Mary?In image (6) the design elements, particularly the colours reflect the ordinary, domestic reality of Mary’s life. In Image (7) the light of God shines so brightly that Mary is silhouetted against it. We can’t see her face, but we know it is shining. Her stance is similar to that of the prophets as she stands before God with arms outstretched. Also, this is called the ‘orans’ posture – the traditional posture of prayer used by the early Christians (and many others in the ancient world) to indicate supplication. The two images (6) and (7) together represent the ordinary and extraordinary aspects of Mary’s life and indicate the cosmic nature of the whole Christ-event.

6. Josepha. What does image (5) say about Joseph? In image (5) Joseph is an ordinary working man with a small family to care for.b. What is the picture that Joseph is pointing to in image (8)? Joseph is pointing to his family tree which shows that he comes from the line of King David. This genealogy is taken from the opening of Matthew’s gospel (Matt 1:1-17). Joseph’s origins are also mentioned in Luke’s gospel (Lk 1:27).c. Why is this picture important?In Jewish tradition, the Messiah would come from the line of King David. Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, but when Mary married him she became a member of the house of David, so Jesus was officially of that line also. It was important for the gospel writer to show that Jesus fulfilled the traditional criterion in order to prove that he was the Messiah.

7. Johna. Where is John in image (11) - what is he doing? John, the cousin of Jesus, was known as the Baptist. He is in a river baptising and teaching.b. Compare images (2) (3) and images (11) (12): how is John like Isaiah? The artist used the figure of Isaiah to make the figure of John, so John is basically the same shape as the Isaiah figure with a few variations. In (2) and (11) both Isaiah and John are standing, with arms out, teaching crowds of people. In (3) and (12) both Isaiah and John are silhouetted against God’s light.c. How is John different from Isaiah?John is famous for his eccentric lifestyle indicated by his rough clothing and shaggy hair. His style of dress and fiery preaching about repentance is traditionally likened more to the prophet Elijah than to Isaiah. John is famous for baptising his followers, so he stands in a river while preaching. John is almost the same age as Jesus, so he is drawn as a relatively young man. Isaiah is depicted as a more mature person who was a writer as well as a teacher.d. What is the artist saying about John? The artist drew attention to John’s similarity to Isaiah in order to suggest that John, like Isaiah, was a great teacher and a prophet who predicted the coming of the Messiah. The artist was following a liturgical agenda: the lectionary readings for the Advent season of Year A are arranged in such a way that a correlation is apparent between the message of Isaiah and message of John.

8. Childrena. How does the artist show what living in the dark means in image (13)?

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The children are drawn with angry faces and they are throwing mud. They are being unkind and uncaring. The consequences of living in the dark are destructive relationships and a degraded environment. b. How does the artist show what living in the light means in image (14)?The children here are drawn with open, happy faces. They are living in the light with Jesus. The consequences of living in God’s light are peaceful relationships and a healthy world.

9. What do you think?The following questions are for general discussion and focus on evaluation and inference:a. The artist wanted the children in this picture to be like ordinary children – did she succeed? Give some reasons.b. The artist has shown Jesus, Mary and Joseph in a modern setting – would you like the story more if they wore clothes of olden times? Give your reasons.c. How would the message of the story be different if King David held a sword instead of a lyre in image (4)?d. How would the story change if Jesus had green clothes instead of purple?

Living in the Light with Jesus: preparing for ChristmasIllustrated story book

Title Living in the Light with Jesus: preparing for Christmas

(1) At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus our saviour. Jesus is the one who lights up our lives and shines through our days.

(2) In ancient times, God spoke through the prophets. Prophets were wise people who spread the word about God’s plan. One of those prophets was Isaiah.

(3) Isaiah spoke about God’s promise to send us a saviour who would make the whole of creation into the Kingdom of God.

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(4) Isaiah said that the saviour would come from the family of King David. So some people thought that the saviour would be born into an important and wealthy family . . .

(5) but Jesus was the saviour and he was born in Bethlehem to Joseph and Mary.

(6) Mary was not from an important family, but she was very special. Mary was chosen to give birth to Jesus. She was a brave and loving person.

(7) God’s messenger, an angel, told Mary that she would be the mother of God’s child. Mary was frightened, but she said yes to God’s plan. Mary believed what the angel told her - that her child was given to her by God’s Spirit.

(8) Joseph was not an important man, he was a tradesman who earned his living by working hard. There were some things about Joseph that made him very special. He was a good man who was kind, wise and brave. Joseph was also from the family of King David. So Joseph was the right person to help Mary follow God’s plan.

(9) One night, God sent an angel to explain the plan to Joseph in a dream.

(10) It was the special task of Joseph and Mary to raise Jesus so he could do the work he was sent to do.

(11) John the Baptist was a cousin of Jesus. John was a prophet like Isaiah. John was an unusual person: he wore rough clothes and he ate bush tucker – things like locusts and wild honey. He often said embarrassing things in public too - criticising people for living sinful lives. But many people knew that John was wise and he became famous. John did not care about being famous - he just wanted to do the special job that God gave him.

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(12) John’s task was to remind everyone about God’s plan to send a saviour who would make the whole of creation into the Kingdom of God. So he encouraged people to prepare for the saviour by living good lives. Later he realised that Jesus was the saviour.

(13) Today, as Christians, we believe that Jesus showed us how to live in God’s light. When we are selfish and mean to others we are not living in God’s light. When we fight with everyone around us and spoil our natural environment we are not living in God’s light.

(14) Living in God’s light means being generous and kind to others. It also means living peacefully with everyone around us, and caring for the natural world.

(15) But wait there’s more! Jesus will come back at the end of time and complete the work he started when he was here on earth. Then there will be no sickness, death or poverty and the whole of creation will be the Kingdom of God – God’s Kingdom of light and love.

(16) In the meantime, Jesus invites us to live in the light. If we follow the example of Mary, we will say yes.

So everybody, come and live in the light with Jesus and say ‘Yes!’ with this ancient cry: ‘Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!’

See the flipbook version of Living in the Light with Jesus online at Youblisher website.

Download a PowerPoint version of Living in the Light with Jesus from the BCE portal.

Advent Visual Literacy Activity (Year A) andLiving in the Light with Jesus: preparing for Christmas

were produced by ResourceLink @ Brisbane Catholic Education in 2010.Text, graphics & layout: Dr Jenny Close

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