Animalia! Depictions of Animals in Renaissance Europe
Grades K-3; 4-6
Maestro Bartolomé chose to represent the story behind the creation of animals in his painting entitled
Creation of Eve, including specific references to Martin Schongaur’s depiction of beasts. Painters often did not have the luxury of observing these animals firsthand and would either compose images of creatures from memory or refer to prints and drawings. Throughout the Medieval and Renaissance periods, certain animals were assigned special meanings and often represented moral virtues. Students will be asked to identify the animals depicted in the painting, discuss their significance, and construct a composition of their own choosing inspired by Renaissance images.
Animalia! 3-6 Lesson Plan
Playing with Colors
Grades K-3; 4-6
In the Renaissance, most artists worked together in large workshops in order to cope with the demands of the market and augment their productivity. The study of the underdrawing from several paintings by Francesco Gallego show that he added inscriptions over the tunics of his figures indicating the colors that should be applied. These notations would serve as a guide for his apprentices throughout the painting process. In this lesson, children will recreate the idea of the artist’s workshop by creating their own designs, designating colors for sections of their compositions in a collaborative manner.
Playing with Colors - 3-6 Lesson Plan
Emulating Textures: Seeing, Touching, and Painting
Grades K-3; 4-6
Quentin Massys liked to experiment with his still-wet paint in order to create special effects. The complexity of his works proves that he was interested in rendering tonalities and textures to entice the interest of the viewer. Among particular aspects of Massys’ technique is the blotting of the surface of draperies with pieces of fabric to even the thickness of the paint layer and create specific textures. In this lesson, children will learn about different textures and materials represented by Massys in the painting of
Salvator Mundi and experiment with materials and textures in their own works.
Emulating Textures: Seeing, Touching, and Painting
Up Close with Paint
Grades K-5
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s paintings are full of textures and colors. Find and describe the textures in
The Triumph of Valor over Time by looking at close-up pictures of the painting’s surface. Learn about the colors of the painting and how they were made from crushed rocks, clay, and other materials. Match samples of these materials to areas in the painting.
Up Close with Paint - K-5 Lesson Plan
Golden Pictures
Grades K-5; Grades 6-8
Paintings of religious figures with shiny gold backgrounds were very popular in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Examples of these types of pictures are
Madonna and Child by Giotto di Bordone (ca. 1320-30),
Saint Romuald by Lorenzo Monaco (ca. 1420), and
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata by Carlo Crivelli (ca. 1488-89). To create these beautiful paintings, artists used special materials to attach sheets of gold to the surface and make fancy designs. Use similar materials to make your own pictures in the style of the Italian Gothic painters.
Golden Pictures - 6-8 Lesson Plan
Golden Pictures - K-5 Lesson Plan
From Start to Finish
Grades 6-12
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and his workshop were responsible for a number of large ceiling and wall paintings for palaces and other grand locations. For many of these ambitious projects, Tiepolo made a sketch of the design in oil paint before completing the final painting on plaster. Learn a technique used during the Renaissance to enlarge a portion of
The Triumph of Valor over Time to much larger scale, then consider Tiepolo’s working methods as he went from idea to finished product.
From Start to Finish - 6-12 Lesson Plan
Shimmering Treasures
Grades 9-12
Artists of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries like Giotto di Bordone, Lorenzo Monaco, and Carlo Crivelli made paintings of religious figures with gold, intricately-decorated backgrounds. These artists used metal punches to make polished and varied surfaces that “sparkle like millet grains” as light falls across them. Use the same type of tools used by Italian Gothic painters to make patterned metal jewelry or wall hangings.
What's in a Name?
Grades K-5; Grades 6-8; Grades 9-12
Tintoretto means “the little dyer” in Italian. Domenico Robusti’s grandfather was a cloth dyer, and his father was a famous painter. All of them were called “Tintoretto.” The bright red color that the Robusti family used for cloth dye and paint come from the same source: a beetle found in Mexico. Learn to make red cochineal dye from crushed insects and use it to dye wool and make the same paint that Domenico Tintoretto used to make his artwork.
Shimmering Treasures - 9-12 Lesson Plan
What's in a Name - K-5 Lesson Plan
What's in a Name - 6-8 Lesson Plan
What's in a Name - 9-12 Lesson Plan
