|
Giles Pennington |
|||||
| Purpose of the Unit | The Process of the Unit | ||||
|
When discussing the Renaissance, whether in an English or a history class, many high school teachers leave students with the impression that the movement, as expressed in Italian painting, introduced secular thinking into a fundamentally religious Western society. The following lesson plan gives both teachers and students an opportunity to view Italian Renaissance art through the mindset that dominated the Florentine art community in the second half of the 15th century. By doing so, they learn to correctly “read” the paintings and sculpture of such great painters as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarotti. This unit will help them understand how paintings which seem on the surface to be bold new secular advances were actually well within the Western Judeo-Christian tradition. By studying one Italian Neoplatonist philosopher and his influence on Florentine art, students will be able to interpret Italian Renaissance painting in a whole new way. They will also learn an important lesson about the Renaissance in Italy. 1. This art and history unit can be done entirely online. It is helpful for every student to have access to an online computer and for the teacher to have access to an online computer with and LCD projector attached. 2. Working individually or in groups of two or three (depending on circumstances), students will: a. Read the introduction to Marsilio Ficino’s letters on the following website: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~orpheus/ficino.htm. This reading will be the basis of several classroom discussions in which the teacher will help students understand Ficino’s influence on Florentine art during the latter half of the 15th century. Students should be encouraged to follow the helpful links to Ficino’s actual writing in preparation for these classroom discussions. b. Read the following “Ladder of Love” excerpt from Plato’s Symposium and, in ashort paper or classroom presentation, relate this classic Platonic allegory to the ideas of Marsilio Ficino. http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~yount/text/plato-ladder.html [Teacher note: for an excellent explanation of Ficino’s views, see Prof. Richard Hooker’s essay on Renaissance Neoplatonism. http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/REN/NEOPLATO.HTM ] c. Interpret one of the finest examples of Ficino’s influence, the world famous Primavera by Sandro Botticelli (Uffizi Gallery, Florence). The painting and an explanation of the picture are available at the Web Gallery of Art: http://www.wga.hu/index.html. [Teacher note: allow the students to find the painting and explanation on their own. They will need to be able to use the Web Gallery of Art to complete the unit.] Students will be asked to explain the painting in light of Ficino’s Platonic ideas. This could be done as part of an open-ended classroom discussion or as a homework assignment. d. Finally, the students study the sculpture and painting of the greatest of all Renaissance artists, Michelangelo. 1) The statue of David (Academy Gallery, Florence) is viewed in the light of what the students have learned about Renaissance Neoplatonism. They should first read and criticize the following article by a contemporary art historian: http://capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3895. [Teacher note: in the discussion following this reading, ask the students to compare and contrast Ficino’s views with that of the art historian.] 2) The fresco cycle in the Sistine Chapel is perhaps the final triumph of Marsilio Ficino’s Neoplatonism. A beautiful and informative tour of the chapel is presented in The Web Gallery of Art: http://www.wga.hu/tours/sistina/. [Teacher note: at this point you may present this tour online using an LCD projector or have the students explore the tour on their own. This tour may be found at the top of the Web Gallery of Art homepage under the heading “Tours” or you can simply use the URL above. It is important to take the students through the central panels, all drawn from Genesis. The culminating picture, so far as our interests are concerned, will be the Creation of Adam. At this point it will be useful to quote from Genesis 1:26… “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…over all the earth.”] After, or preferably during, the tour presentation, the students should be able to point out the many elements of Renaissance Neoplatonism contained in the cycle.
3. Ending the unit a. Students are asked to choose a partner for the final portion of the unit in which they will create a powerpoint presentation on Neoplatonist qualities in Italian Renaissance art. The assignment prompt requires them to choose a Renaissance artist from the list given and prepare a visual presentation in which they show the influence of Renaissance Neoplatonism. [Teacher note: you may want to peruse the following website in which a professor applies Ficino’s thinking to Michelangelo’s art. This article could be used as a finishing piece to the unit if you don’t have time to do the powerpoint presentations. http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/micel.htm] b. Artists in chronological order:
|
|||||
|
|
|||||