Masterpieces of the Infant Jesus at the National Gallery of Art

An assignment for my 5th-6th grade co-op students...

Look at each of the nine pictures very carefully. You can click on them to enlarge them. The dates listed are approximately when the art was created.  All of the ones in this post are related to the birth of Christ.  The paintings are from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (I had to take the pictures from a slight angle because otherwise I was getting a glare from the flash.) These paintings and sculptures were created during the Renaissance. Some of them are gilded. Many of the the titles contain the words madonna and adoration. Click on each of these four bold words and write down definitions.

There are Bible passages linked below three of the paintings.  Read each one.

Writing assignment: Tell which one is your favorite piece of art and why. Then describe this picture or sculpture in at least three sentences.

"The Adoration of the Shepherds"
by Giorgione, 1505-1510
Read Luke 2:1-20 and copy verse 14.

"Adoration of the Shepherds" 

patterned after a piece by Annibale Fontana, 

1600s, Terracotta

"The Adoration of the Magi" by 
Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470-1475
Read Matthew 12:1-12 and copy verse 11.

"Madonna and Child"
by the Florentine School, 1425
Click here to see another
 Madonna and Child sculpture
at the NGA.

"Madonna and Child" by 
Circle of Giovanni di Turino 1430, 
painted and gilded terracotta

"Madonna Enthroned with Saints and Angels" 
by Agnolo Gaddi 1380-1390
Read more about this triptych here.

"Madonna and Child"
by Giotto 1320-1330

"The Alba Madonna" by Raphael in 1510 

(St. John the Baptist is the other child 

in this painting.)

Read about this painting at: Alba Madonna.

"The Flight into Egypt"
by Vittore Carpaccio, 1515
Read Matthew 2:13-23.