Mrs. Johnson began. “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Who knows the next verse?” “Jack fell down and broke his crown,” a bunch of us chorused. “And Jill came tumbling after.” “Good,” she said. “Now, who knows what that little ditty is about?” “I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it is part of a political comment or protest,” Oswald said. “It dates from the French Revolution. Jack is King Louis XVI and Jill is Marie Antoinette. They lost their crowns—their heads, which were cut off,” she explained. “Humpty Dumpty is believed to refer to the despised King Richard III of England and his defeat at Bosworth Field in 1485.” “And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again,” I said. “I guess that makes sense.” “But those are just nursery rhymes,” somebody said. “Which we all know is a form of art,” Mrs. Johnson replied. “Let’s turn to what is unquestionably one of the most famous art pieces in history by one of our greatest artists.
