A humanities course that teaches an appreciation of tradition and culture through the visual arts includes consideration of contemporary art as well as classic paintings and sculpture. Study of Leonardo DaVinci's "Last Supper" provides an exercise in the intellectual approach to religious painting, while the portrait of Mona Lisa by the same artist reflects the secular aspect of the Renaissance period. Portraits of women, particularly Andrew Wyeth's "Christina," dramatize the impact of tradition and culture, and the relative importance of subject matter in artistic selection. These portraits, whether gentle, symbolic, or brutal, raise important questions regarding the society, values, and human experience that produced them. (MAI)