Art, Family and Sociology

I just had an idea that this painting - The Arnolfini Wedding, by Jan van Eyck - would be an interesting way to start off a lesson about gender relations and marriage - perhaps in the context of how gender relations have changed over time? Perhaps some teachers would feel this is a bit too removed from students culture - in which case, perhaps you could juxtapose it with something more representative of current times. Jordan and Alex perhaps? Anyway, for you to improvise. There is a nice line or two on Arnolfini on the wikipedia entry - first bullet point under intepretation and symbolism gives you all you need for an A level sociology lesson.