Fine Art Friday

Okay, I love this! "Fine Art Friday." I saw this over at Mental Multivitamin a couple of weeks ago, who linked the idea back to Quiet Life. We used to spend so much more time in "art appreciation" than we do now, and that's something I want to change in the new year. Now is when they will really be able to actually appreciate it! So I thought it would be fun (when I'm together enough) to post the art we will be talking about that Friday. Here is ours for today:

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures (Christ Learning to Read), 1910. Oil on canvas. Dallas Museum of Art

There is an interesting bio of the painter, Henry Tanner, here.

I actually have this reproduction framed in our schoolroom. I bought it several years ago when we were at the DMA, because it really speaks to me as a homeschooling mom. Mary, one arm wrapped around Jesus, the other holding a copy of the scriptures for Him to see. I love the way Jesus is pointing to the words. I love thinking of Him "reading aloud" to His mother. Him reading the scriptures aloud to her would be akin to one of my kids reading me one of their original compositions! He wrote the very words she helped Him learn to read. It's a powerful image to me, and each day when I see it in our study it reminds me to take my role seriously, as I imagine Mary herself did.

Appreciate something beautiful today!