Monique Coventry
900217949
Lesson 4: Italian Masterpieces
Click here for link to Grade 6 lesson plan.
Teacher notes:
The Italian Masterpieces from Spain's Royal Court, are a rich selection of paintings from up to three hundred years ago. The paintings have been held by Museo del Prado and many of the paintings have never left Spain before. The basis of the Prado was formed by the Spanish Royal Family's art collection, as they were collectors of Italian art from the mid sixteenth century. Hundreds of artworks destined for Spain were bought in Italy and many Italian artists also travelled to Spain to work at the Royal Court. As a result, the best Italian art ended up in the hands of the Spanish Royal Family and subsequently, the Prado. The collection represents some of the highest quality paintings and drawings that helped define Italy's artistic heritage.
The collection incorporates a broad range of themes, including:
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The Genius of the 16th century.
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Drawing in the 16th century.
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Mannerism.
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Titian and the Venetiam Empire.
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Towards Realism.
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The legacy of the Carraci.
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The rise of the Carravigisti.
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The Buen Retiro Palace.
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Still lifes.
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Spain and Italian art in the 18th century.
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A change in taste.
(National Gallery of Victoria 2014).
In my own experience of attending the exhibition of the Italian Masterpieces at the National Gallery Victoria, the themes that were particularly prominent for me were both the religious and mythical themes. A number of paintings featured depictions of Mary and Jesus, while many others also featured such fantasy characters as 'Cupid.' I took note during the excursion that the painting that stood out for me the most was:
Artist: Corrado Giaquinto
Allegory of Justice and Peace.
Oil on canvas.
(Indianapolis Museum of Art 2014).
The artist: Corrado Cinquainto was the leading exponent of the Roman Rococo in the eighteenth century. In 1740 he worked for the Spanish Court and supervised Spanish scolarship students, thereby exerting great influence on Spanish art. Corrado Cinquinto possessed a 'fluid and virtuso technique' and is cited as being a 'master of illusionistic effects.' His paintings featured beautiful colours and he had the ability to make his paintings 'seem illuminated from within.' (National Gallery of Victoria 2014).
This painting immediately caught my eye as I thought it was both stunning and intriguing. There is such a broad array of symbols and messages in this painting and it was the kind that I looked at and immediately wanted to find out more about. I read that the King Ferdinand in Spain wanted everyone to know that he ruled a 'peaceful and fair country.' So, he asked Corrado Giaquinto, an Italian artist to paint something that represented this for him. The two girls in the painting represent the two values. Justice wears a crown and she represents 'fairness.' Peace holds the olive branch. The lamb is said to represent meekness. Questions were posed in the gallery for children, such as what do you think the lion represents? (National Gallery of Victoria 2014).
Left: a screenshot of the summary of paintings and drawings in the Italian Masterpieces exhibition, from the National Gallery of Victoria website. Click on the image to be redirected to the site with the full list.
Lesson overview:
I have based this lesson plan on the premise that students would have attended the Italian Masterpieces exhibition prior to partaking in the activities. The lesson would need to be modified if the excursion was not permissible, in which case I would create a gallery of laminated photos of the paintings and drawings from the exhibition to display around the classroom, and have students walk around and take notes as if they were on the excursion. This lesson aims to involve students in responding to the art they have observed and analysed during the excursion through their creation of an ICT based presentation. At level 6 in literacy, students 'plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes' and in Information and Communications Technology, they 'use ICT tools to produce information products that demonstrate their knowledge and skills for all areas of the curriculum (VCAA 2014).' At this age, the use of technology is extremely significant. Technology as a tool for representing visual arts ideas is a focus in this lesson. However, this lesson has been intended as part of a broader series of lessons. Students would spend a number of lessons on creating their presentations. They would also have the opportunity to partake in a lesson in which they replicate an art technique observed in the work/s of the artist they chose and then incorporate this in their presentation about the artist. This lesson is therefore the 'starting point' of the presentation building. I chose level six for this lesson as I think that the cultural themes and context of the Italian Masterpieces are quite complex and would be harder for younger children to interpret or engage with. The National Gallery website does provide activities for younger children to partake in during the exhibition, some of which are detailed below, however I believe the independence, research and improvisation required for the activities I have planned are much more appropriate for upper primary level students.
Resources:
Left: a screenshot of a video from the National Gallery of Victoria website that would be used as stimulus in the lesson with grade 6 students. Click on the image to be directed to the original video clip.
(National Gallery of Victoria 2014).
Below are some samples of images of paintings and drawings to be blown up and displayed in the lesson for students who were unable to attend the excursion or did not complete the task. These images would form part of the 'gallery display' for a class that had not been on the excursion and instead engaged with it at school. The photos would be displayed with the supporting text either on the back or beside the artwork for students to look at. Links to the full lists of photos and their supporting text are below these samples (images and exhibition wall text sourced via National Gallery of Victoria 2014):
Click the image below for the full set of paintings to print and display:
Click the image below for the full set of wall text to print and display:
Left: Bibliography template for students to use during research and submit to teacher with final assignment (Global Education 2012).
Further resources:
The National Gallery of Victoria (2014) website provides links to a number of useful learning resources that could be explored in further lessons during this grade 6 sequence, or other series of lessons with other grade levels. Click on the images below to be redirected to the various websites to view these learning resources:
A Chimera incorporates the body parts of three different animals. This activity encourages students to create their own Chimeras, using the same technique as Ligozzi (pencil, line work, smudging). This activity also asks students to write about the features of/a short story about their Chimera, thereby addressing various areas of the curriculum.
On the left is a link to a blog that displays children's artwork that has been inspired by the paintings in the Italian Masterpieces exhibition. There are some excellent ideas in this for use in an Early Years classroom.
Global Education 2012, 'Templates', Commonwealth of Australia, retrieved 7 September 2014, <http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/resources-gallery/resource-gallery-templates.html>
Indianapolis Museum of Art 2014, ‘Allegory of Peace and Justice’, retrieved 6 September 2014, < http://www.imamuseum.org/collections/artwork/allegory-peace-and-justice-giaquinto-corrado>
National Gallery of Victoria 2014, ‘Italian Masterpieces from Spain’s Royal Court, Museo del Prado’, retrieved 5 September 2014, < http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/italianmasterpieces>
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) 2014, ‘Level 6’, retrieved 4 September 2014, State Government of Victoria, < http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Level6>