Six- year-old Sam asks about naked paintings
Late Sunday afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see six-year-old Sam coming from the house in which she and the rest of her family lives.
Me: Good afternoon Sam. It is unusual to see you at this time of day. What would like to drink?
Sam: We just found out that school is canceled for tomorrow. Mom and dad said I should come talk to you. Can we make hot chocolate Uncle Jim?
Me: We sure can. How about we just make it from cocoa in the microwave?
Sam: Okay. That is fun. Will you put the milk in the microwave to heat Uncle Jim?
Me: I sure will. Here is the cocoa, sugar, and vanilla. Do you remember how much of each? Here, let’s look on the side of the cocoa can. Two tablespoons of cocoa. Here is tablespoon Sam.
Sam measures two tablespoons of cocoa.
One to two teaspoons of sugar. I think we decided that one is enough.
Sam measures the sugar.
A pinch of salt.
Sam: My pinch is smaller than yours, isn’t it Uncle Jim?
Me: It is, but I think your pinch is just fine.
One fourth teaspoon of vanilla.
Sam: Do I have to measure that Uncle Jim?
Me: No, you have become quite the cook. I think you can estimate that pretty well.
Ping. The microwave announces that the milk is hot.
Me: Okay Sam. Mix up all the dry ingredients and the then add to the milk.
Here are some miniature marshmallows to add to it.
Sam: Yummy! Uncle Jim , we were watching a show on television about the paintings in the Sis ton .. the Siston. It is this church where the Pope lives.
Me: Ahh. You mean the program on the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. I thought that was a really good program.
Sam: Yes. That was it Uncle Jim.
Me: Did you enjoy it Sam?
Sam: Yes, but I did not understand why someone came along and made some of the people in the paintings wear clothes. Sometimes they just put this light cloth on and you could still see what was underneath Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes. That does seem very strange Sam.
Sam: There was a big argument when they cleaned the paintings a few years ago.
Me: Yes, it was not clear whether some of the paint was scraped off and whether it was just covered up with more paint If it had been scraped off then it would have ruined the paintings more. You understand that Sam.
Sam: Well kinda.
Me: Here I can show you. Let make up two small bowls of frosting with powdered sugar, butter, and milk. We will make one yellow and one green. I will put the ingredients in each bowl and then you can start stirring one and I will stir the other.
We do that and then I put two small square of waxed paper on the counter.
Let’s put some frosting paint on each of these and then we can wait for them to dry.
Sam: This is fun Uncle Jim,but I still do not understand why they made somebody paint over them in the first place.
Me: Fair question. You know that the paintings are in a church, right Sam?
Sam: Yes. Does that mean that God does not like to see naked people Uncle Jim?
Me: Oh, I think that God sees us as we are all the time. I don’t think that God cares whether we have on clothes or not. God always sees us just as we are. One of the painting that people were upset about was called The Last Judgement. Michelangelo apparently thought that since we are born naked with no secrets that when God is going to check on how we are doing he will see us as naked, meaning we will not have any secrets. Also, many people did not think that there was anything wrong with being naked
Sam: So the painting was intended for God to see and not for people to see?
Me: Good guess Sam but usually paintings, including this one, is someone’s idea of what they think something will look like. It is for humans to see. God does not need a painting. For example, you have talked about becoming a veterinarian when you grow up. We could try painting a picture of what we think you will look like when you graduate from school. You may look much different or very similar to the painting. We could also paint you taking care of animals. Sometimes you already have a picture in your head of what that would look like.
Sam: But we would not paint me naked, would be Uncle Jim?
Me: No, we would paint you wearing clothes – either a cap and gown or a doctor’s coat so that you did not get all dirty when you were doctoring animals. But no matter what clothes you wear, you would know whether or not you were doing the right thing. For example, what would you do if someone offered you a lot of money to take care of a healthy animal and someone else did not have money to take care of a sick animal? If you could only see one of these animals which one would you see?
Sam: I would have to see the sick animal Uncle Jim.
Me: Let’s take a little break and add paint over the frosting with the opposite color on both of these squares.
Sam paints over the frosting paint on one of the squares with the opposite color. I scrape off the frosting paint on the other square and then paint it with the opposite color.
Me: I am sure that is what you would do Sam. Let’s suppose you really wanted a new phone and you could only get it if you saw the healthy animals whose owner had a lot of money.
Sam: If I did not see the sick animal, I would know I had let it die Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes, we always know when we do something which is not right. In that sense, our thoughts are always naked to us and to God. If they were not naked, we could just pretend to ourselves that we had not done something that we should not have done.
Sam: So naked thoughts are like naked people Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes. The artist wanted to show, with a painting, that God always sees us just as we are and not how we pretend to be.
Sam: That makes sense Uncle Jim. Then why did people want to put clothes on some of the people in the painting?
Me: Well, there was a group of people who formed a meeting called the Council of Trent. They were afraid that people would look at the painting and only see beautiful, naked people. If that is all they saw, they would not think about the fact that some day they were going to have to explain to God why they had not been nice a lot of the time.
Sam: Is that sort of like when I see the cake mom or dad just made and want to eat it before dinner?
Me: Very good Sam. That is a perfect example. You are so smart.
Sam: But mom and dad do not hide the cake, do they Uncle Jim?
Me: Not most of the time but occasionally they might keep it out of sight until after dinner.
Sam: That is true.
Me: So the intention was good but it is still not clear what was the right thing to do. Probably we humans are going to be disagreeing about such issues for a long time.
Sam: Uncle Jim, how do we know what the original painting looked like? Did they take a picture of it?
Me: No. A cardinal called Alessandro Farnese had asked someone to paint a copy of the original on wood before they changed it.
Sam: That was good, wasn’t it Uncle Jim? Now I could take a picture with my phone and put it on the computer. Then I could share it with everyone. Then everyone would know and it would not matter.
Me: That is right Sam. As a matter of fact, I recently looked at a photo of the copy on the computer. I think the program on the television also showed a copy of it.
Let’s see if the frosting paint is dry. I touch it with my finger. It seems to be dry.
Me: So we are to very carefully try to scrape off just the top layer of paint to see if we can preserve the old first one.
Sam: Okay. (Sam presses a little too hard and both layers come off). It all came off uncle Jim and now you can just see a faint color.
Me: Yes. Let me try Sam.
I very carefully scrape off the paint on the other square which I had scraped off the original color as much as I could before I painted the second color. There is now only faint traces of both colors.
It is very hard. Still you get the idea. If someone had scrapped off the original paint before they painted over it then they could not tell what was there originally. Sometimes, however, if something was just painted over, an art restorer can very carefully remove the top layer of paint.
Sam: Art restorers?
Me: Yes. There are many paintings which have been damaged or painted over. People study for a long time to learn how to try to bring back the original painting.
Sam: So, are naked people bad Uncle Jim?
Me: No, naked people are not bad, but we need to know that some people are not comfortable with naked bodies and we have decided that we will only be naked in certain places.
Sam: Paul said there are beaches where people go naked!
Me: (smiling). Yes, that is true. There are signs so that anyone who is uncomfortable seeing naked people in public will know not to go there. Other people enjoy being naked.
Phone rings and I answer.
Me: That was your dad Sam. Time for dinner. I will clean up here. Go home to dinner now.
Sam: Thanks Uncle Jim.
We exchange hugs and off she goes.
Written January 25, 2016
Late Sunday afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see six-year-old Sam coming from the house in which she and the rest of her family lives.
Me: Good afternoon Sam. It is unusual to see you at this time of day. What would like to drink?
Sam: We just found out that school is canceled for tomorrow. Mom and dad said I should come talk to you. Can we make hot chocolate Uncle Jim?
Me: We sure can. How about we just make it from cocoa in the microwave?
Sam: Okay. That is fun. Will you put the milk in the microwave to heat Uncle Jim?
Me: I sure will. Here is the cocoa, sugar, and vanilla. Do you remember how much of each? Here, let’s look on the side of the cocoa can. Two tablespoons of cocoa. Here is tablespoon Sam.
Sam measures two tablespoons of cocoa.
One to two teaspoons of sugar. I think we decided that one is enough.
Sam measures the sugar.
A pinch of salt.
Sam: My pinch is smaller than yours, isn’t it Uncle Jim?
Me: It is, but I think your pinch is just fine.
One fourth teaspoon of vanilla.
Sam: Do I have to measure that Uncle Jim?
Me: No, you have become quite the cook. I think you can estimate that pretty well.
Ping. The microwave announces that the milk is hot.
Me: Okay Sam. Mix up all the dry ingredients and the then add to the milk.
Here are some miniature marshmallows to add to it.
Sam: Yummy! Uncle Jim , we were watching a show on television about the paintings in the Sis ton .. the Siston. It is this church where the Pope lives.
Me: Ahh. You mean the program on the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. I thought that was a really good program.
Sam: Yes. That was it Uncle Jim.
Me: Did you enjoy it Sam?
Sam: Yes, but I did not understand why someone came along and made some of the people in the paintings wear clothes. Sometimes they just put this light cloth on and you could still see what was underneath Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes. That does seem very strange Sam.
Sam: There was a big argument when they cleaned the paintings a few years ago.
Me: Yes, it was not clear whether some of the paint was scraped off and whether it was just covered up with more paint If it had been scraped off then it would have ruined the paintings more. You understand that Sam.
Sam: Well kinda.
Me: Here I can show you. Let make up two small bowls of frosting with powdered sugar, butter, and milk. We will make one yellow and one green. I will put the ingredients in each bowl and then you can start stirring one and I will stir the other.
We do that and then I put two small square of waxed paper on the counter.
Let’s put some frosting paint on each of these and then we can wait for them to dry.
Sam: This is fun Uncle Jim,but I still do not understand why they made somebody paint over them in the first place.
Me: Fair question. You know that the paintings are in a church, right Sam?
Sam: Yes. Does that mean that God does not like to see naked people Uncle Jim?
Me: Oh, I think that God sees us as we are all the time. I don’t think that God cares whether we have on clothes or not. God always sees us just as we are. One of the painting that people were upset about was called The Last Judgement. Michelangelo apparently thought that since we are born naked with no secrets that when God is going to check on how we are doing he will see us as naked, meaning we will not have any secrets. Also, many people did not think that there was anything wrong with being naked
Sam: So the painting was intended for God to see and not for people to see?
Me: Good guess Sam but usually paintings, including this one, is someone’s idea of what they think something will look like. It is for humans to see. God does not need a painting. For example, you have talked about becoming a veterinarian when you grow up. We could try painting a picture of what we think you will look like when you graduate from school. You may look much different or very similar to the painting. We could also paint you taking care of animals. Sometimes you already have a picture in your head of what that would look like.
Sam: But we would not paint me naked, would be Uncle Jim?
Me: No, we would paint you wearing clothes – either a cap and gown or a doctor’s coat so that you did not get all dirty when you were doctoring animals. But no matter what clothes you wear, you would know whether or not you were doing the right thing. For example, what would you do if someone offered you a lot of money to take care of a healthy animal and someone else did not have money to take care of a sick animal? If you could only see one of these animals which one would you see?
Sam: I would have to see the sick animal Uncle Jim.
Me: Let’s take a little break and add paint over the frosting with the opposite color on both of these squares.
Sam paints over the frosting paint on one of the squares with the opposite color. I scrape off the frosting paint on the other square and then paint it with the opposite color.
Me: I am sure that is what you would do Sam. Let’s suppose you really wanted a new phone and you could only get it if you saw the healthy animals whose owner had a lot of money.
Sam: If I did not see the sick animal, I would know I had let it die Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes, we always know when we do something which is not right. In that sense, our thoughts are always naked to us and to God. If they were not naked, we could just pretend to ourselves that we had not done something that we should not have done.
Sam: So naked thoughts are like naked people Uncle Jim.
Me: Yes. The artist wanted to show, with a painting, that God always sees us just as we are and not how we pretend to be.
Sam: That makes sense Uncle Jim. Then why did people want to put clothes on some of the people in the painting?
Me: Well, there was a group of people who formed a meeting called the Council of Trent. They were afraid that people would look at the painting and only see beautiful, naked people. If that is all they saw, they would not think about the fact that some day they were going to have to explain to God why they had not been nice a lot of the time.
Sam: Is that sort of like when I see the cake mom or dad just made and want to eat it before dinner?
Me: Very good Sam. That is a perfect example. You are so smart.
Sam: But mom and dad do not hide the cake, do they Uncle Jim?
Me: Not most of the time but occasionally they might keep it out of sight until after dinner.
Sam: That is true.
Me: So the intention was good but it is still not clear what was the right thing to do. Probably we humans are going to be disagreeing about such issues for a long time.
Sam: Uncle Jim, how do we know what the original painting looked like? Did they take a picture of it?
Me: No. A cardinal called Alessandro Farnese had asked someone to paint a copy of the original on wood before they changed it.
Sam: That was good, wasn’t it Uncle Jim? Now I could take a picture with my phone and put it on the computer. Then I could share it with everyone. Then everyone would know and it would not matter.
Me: That is right Sam. As a matter of fact, I recently looked at a photo of the copy on the computer. I think the program on the television also showed a copy of it.
Let’s see if the frosting paint is dry. I touch it with my finger. It seems to be dry.
Me: So we are to very carefully try to scrape off just the top layer of paint to see if we can preserve the old first one.
Sam: Okay. (Sam presses a little too hard and both layers come off). It all came off uncle Jim and now you can just see a faint color.
Me: Yes. Let me try Sam.
I very carefully scrape off the paint on the other square which I had scraped off the original color as much as I could before I painted the second color. There is now only faint traces of both colors.
It is very hard. Still you get the idea. If someone had scrapped off the original paint before they painted over it then they could not tell what was there originally. Sometimes, however, if something was just painted over, an art restorer can very carefully remove the top layer of paint.
Sam: Art restorers?
Me: Yes. There are many paintings which have been damaged or painted over. People study for a long time to learn how to try to bring back the original painting.
Sam: So, are naked people bad Uncle Jim?
Me: No, naked people are not bad, but we need to know that some people are not comfortable with naked bodies and we have decided that we will only be naked in certain places.
Sam: Paul said there are beaches where people go naked!
Me: (smiling). Yes, that is true. There are signs so that anyone who is uncomfortable seeing naked people in public will know not to go there. Other people enjoy being naked.
Phone rings and I answer.
Me: That was your dad Sam. Time for dinner. I will clean up here. Go home to dinner now.
Sam: Thanks Uncle Jim.
We exchange hugs and off she goes.
Written January 25, 2016
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