Activity: Step Inside the Painting

1. Without providing any background knowledge about the image, briefly walk through the painting with the students and ask them to describe each of the figures and the entirety of the scene.
2. Ask students to create a list of perspectives or points of view that are represented by the image. These points of view can include any of the characters, including animals, plants, or objects. They can also include perspectives not directly represented, the object’s maker, the buyer, or the viewer. Encourage your students to think creatively about the perspectives that are shown, without providing them with the answers. 
3. Ask each student to pick one of the perspectives and answer the following questions from that character’s or object’s imagined point of view: 

• What might that person or thing perceive about the world they inhabit? 
• What might that person or thing know about or believe about the world?
• What might that person or thing care about?

Consider information available about the image. Does this change student’s thoughts about their characters’ perspectives? How are the ideas that are presented in the image different from how we think about the world today? How are today’s beliefs similar to this version of the past?