Washington — At a conference here today, “Picturing the Nation,” the National Endowment for the Humanities and its British counterpart described useful ways of using art to teach national history.

The conference focused on elementary- and secondary-school students and teachers. But one presentation, by Wilfred M. McClay, a history professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was on a topic relevant to all levels of education: the advantages and obstacles of using art as a classroom tool.

Art can be used to enable inquiries beyond its immediate subjects, said Mr. McClay. Written narratives, he said, are capable of offering details of a specific, subjective experience. Art, however, is a more effective means of presenting a comprehensive perspective. “The written text can only hint at the panorama,” he said.

Topics for discussion extend beyond the historical person or event depicted in the image, Mr. McClay said. He used Emanuel Leutze’s painting “George Washington Crossing the Delaware,” which contains a number of inaccuracies while presenting an idealized image of America’s first president, to demonstrate that comparing actual history and how it is portrayed can be a way to teach about American history and identity.

“To teach young people to see art in that way is to bring them into a whole new level of reflection,” Mr. McClay said.

The conference was co-sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom. —Caitlin Moran