There are two main reasons why it is important for history teachers to make sense of the art teacher's processes, aims and perspectives: first, if we are concerned to improve pupils' historical knowledge and understanding then we will want to know about how learning in other subjects impacts upon it (after all, the thoughtful Head of English has always enquired about the purpose of work with text in other subjects, long before ‘literacy co-ordinators' were invented); second, from the techniques and assumptions of other disciplines we might learn something fresh about how to communicate difficult ideas or how to extend pupils' thinking in challenging areas. Just as we go to the drama teacher for new techniques, so we might go to the art teacher, not necessarily to replicate what they do, but to learn more of why pupils find certain things difficult. David Sheppard, teacher of art, shares his rationale for a lesson in which pupils drew historical artefacts. He analyses the reasons for the success of the lesson, and, in so doing, offers the history teacher some striking insights. It is difficult to know which is the more fascinating - the similarities with the aims of the history teacher, or the differences.