Michelangelo

This series of artwork incorporated key tools of art education. First, the children and I discussed the varied uses of art. We talked about how art is used as decoration, as a tool of communication, and a personal release. Following the discussion, we began an artist study on Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. I brought several books on Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel to class and we talked about his life and work as well as the circumstances under which Michelangelo came to paint the chapel. The goal was to understand that Michelangelo worked for years to complete his famous frescoes on a very nontraditional canvas (a very high ceiling and wall).

For the lesson, the children were instructed in the church beneath our own Corpus Christi vaulted ceiling. The children were amazed to learn that Michelangelo labored for four years (1508-1512) to complete the Sistine Chapel despite not wanting to take on the task.In learning about Michelangelo and his work, the focus was on color, use of space, story telling or communicating a scene, and technique. For the first lesson, students worked in the church to illustrate a favorite Bible story.

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