Christmas Card Unit Iconography: “Image Writing” With regard to Christianity, these are images that depict religious figures (such Jesus, saints, apostles, angels, etc.) or illuminate religious stories. This practice originated in the earliest days of the Christian Church to assist those who could not read, and also to serve as symbols or codes to identify groups and/or their beliefs.

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. Christian icons are frequently seen in Christian textbooks, in churches, and on Christmas or Easter Cards.

Christian IconographyLearn how to identify the saints in medieval and renaissance art.Read the stories that the paintings reer to.Find out the "why" behind traditional elements in paintings of scriptural events.Use this search engine.... Christian IconographyLearn how to identify the saints in medieval and renaissance art.Read the stories that the paintings reer to.Find out the "why" behind traditional elements in paintings of scriptural events.Use this search engine a/iconography/index.html egory:Christian_iconography Icons can be symbolic Here are some websites if you are interested in exploring Iconography:

Christmas cards originated in England over 150 years ago. Sir Henry Cole, the founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London had so many Christmas greetings to send that handwriting them was impossible. He wanted to make his friends aware of the need to help the destitute on that holiday. So, in the year 1843, Sir Henry commissioned John Calcot Horsley to paint a card showing the feeding and clothing of the poor. The Christmas Card

John Horsley produced a triptych. The centerpiece featured a party of adults and children, with plentiful food and drink. Each of the two side panels depicted a good deed: clothing the naked and feeding the hungry.

The first Christmas card’s inscription read: “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you." "Merry" was then a spiritual word meaning "blessed," as in "merry old England."

You will need to collect images that help you communicate your message: Look in books, at old cards, in clip art, books with pictures of animals, in an illustrated bible, in the school library, or basically anywhere you can find pictures! Begin to simplify the image. You will be carving in into a linoleum block, and later rolling ink over it and printing it on different colors of paper.

Rubric for Christmas Card __/15 Thumbnails- student created a minimum of 3 thumbnails before beginning final card design, and considered creative approaches to the assignment. __/15 Message—Christmas card illustrate the year’s bible verse or conveys the real meaning of Christmas in an appropriate manner. __/30 Craftsmanship – final product shows attention to craftsmanship that is appropriate for the particular media. Work is well presented and shows effort. __/25 Design – design incorporates elements and principals of design effectively to communicate a clear message. __/15 Effort and classroom behavior ____/100

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