Renaissance Painting: An Overview, Grades 9-12
Selected paintings from the CMA collection help acquaint students with the Renaissance, the transitional period of European history in which learning and the arts blossomed and medieval thought was gradually subjected to the beginnings of scientific scrutiny. Portraiture, early landscape elements, and contemporary details in these works show the artists’ growing attention to the world around them. Specialized vocabulary words (e.g. perspective, patron, altarpiece, tondo) introduce basic concepts related to Renaissance painting.
This lesson includes teaching extensions on one-point perspective in which students give flat shapes the appearance of three dimensional objects by drawing converging lines to a vanishing point. These same principles are used in a follow up project for drawing a room in 3-D. Further, a videoconference viewing guide on perspective adds an engaging interactivity to this distance learning lesson.
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Teacher information packet (PDF)
The Archangel Michael, Filippo Lippi (Italian, c. 1406 - 1469) 1458
1964.150
The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist, Juan de Flandes (Netherlandish, ca. 1465 - 1519) c. 1500
1975.3