Madonna, 1934, black-and-white lithograph, 12” x 14” plate

  1.  Ask your students if they know what “Madonna” means (not the singer!).  Tell them that it is an idealized and virtuous woman, typically painted holding the baby Jesus.   Show them some examples of other versions of Madonna paintings and have them compare and contrast them as a class or in small groups.  

  2.  Discuss the racial divide in 1934.  What would White people have thought when they saw this picture labeled as “Madonna?”  Would it have been accepted or be seen as scandalous?  At this time Black people were not portrayed in a positive way so this type of art was almost unheard of.  

  3.  Play the song “Brown Baby” and ask the students what they are thinking about as they listen to it.  How does it relate to the picture?  Does it change how they see the picture?

  4.  Ask them if they could create a music video for the song.  What kind of pictures would they use to illustrate the song?  Does it in any way relate back to the painting?

MD State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7

Music: Cn11:E:3-5:1/Cn11:E:6-8:1/Cn10:I:3-5:3/Cn10:I:6-8:3