During Week 4, students of ‘The Renaissance’ subject partook in two hands-on activities to learn about the efforts famous artists like Michelangelo went through to gift the world with unmatchable art.

In the first activity, students attempted to paint like Michelangelo. This was done true to how Michelangelo would have painted the famous roof of the Sistine Chapel. Students took the challenge to understand how tasking it would have been for the famous artist to paint the roof for 3 years straight. This hands-on activity has been designed to further develop their historical concept of perspective and empathy, to bring students closer to the experiences people in the past had gone through.

The second activity was to attempt carving a sculpture just as Michelangelo. The only difference being that students were not given a piece of marble from Carrara, which was just what Michelangelo would have used. Instead, students attempted this challenge on a bar of soap. This task was to allow students to understand how much skill Michelangelo had to produce precious works of art like ‘David’ and ‘La Pieta`’.

From the energy in the room, students thoroughly enjoyed having a try at recreating famous works of art from the Renaissance. This has allowed them to further understand the world of the Renaissance and its famous artists.

Laura Venditti - Teacher