In the foreign language classroom, images are widely used in many different ways. However, analyzing the majority of textbooks currently used, it is apparent that images are used for different purposes, but rarely to support grammar explanations. This presentation will analyze how images can be utilized as a great aid for grammar teaching and how they can help students understand the value of different forms and structures. Further, this presentation will explore why images should become an integral part of the Italian language textbooks. Working within the theoretical framework of the cognitive grammar, a theory initially elaborated by Ronald Langacker, this presentation will highlight the fact that images have many qualities that make them able to represent grammatical concepts in a more effective, easier, and immediate way than the written text alone. With images, teachers can work with a degree of abstraction closer to the conceptualizations of grammar than what can be done with written text. In particular, the use of a metalinguistic images can prove to be at least as important as other uses of images in the classroom. In this presentation we will see many examples taken from drafts of the book Grammatica di base dell’italiano that will be published by Casa delle Lingue/Difusión in 2015.