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momtomany
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| Posted: April 14 2005 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
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In keeping with our Pope studies and the upcoming conclave in the Sistine Chapel, we decided to study Michaelangelo for art. We just did the fresco project in the Kohl's Discovering Great Artists project book. We had a great time, after we found out how fast plaster dries! After a second batch was made, all went well. We will be trying the lying down painting project too. On a nice day we will be painting on paper taped to the bottom of a picnic table while lying on one of the benches. 
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Kelly
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| Posted: April 14 2005 at 9:54pm | IP Logged
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momtomany wrote:
| In keeping with our Pope studies and the upcoming conclave in the Sistine Chapel, we decided to study Michaelangelo for art. We just did the fresco project in the Kohl's Discovering Great Artists project book. We had a great time, after we found out how fast plaster dries! After a second batch was made, all went well. We will be trying the lying down painting project too. On a nice day we will be painting on paper taped to the bottom of a picnic table while lying on one of the benches. |
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We just finished doing the painting-on-our-backs-underneath-the-table-Michelangelo-proj ect, too, and it was great fun! We'll have to try the fresco project next.
We also read (per recommendation on another thread on this Message Board) "From the Crazy Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil Frankenweiler", which is, indirectly, about Michelangelo. The kids loved this.
Another thing we did, and do with whatever artist we study (pretty much) is pick a picture to try and copy. I let the children pick out a section or detail from The Sistine Chapel, draw and color with Prismacolor pencils, and discuss it as we go along. Later, we got a real hoot when we stumbled on "Babar's Guide to Art" which depicts an elephantine rendition of Michelangelo's "Creation of Man" from the Sistine Chapel, only it's a nude elephant, reaching out with his trunk to touch the outstretched trunk of another elephant. That wacky Babar!
Hillyer's "Childs History of Art", with chapters on Michelangelo's painting & sculpture, provided great read alouds. Also, the Mike Venezia book on Michelangelo. Then the children dictated or wrote up their own narrations on Michelangelo.
Next we watched that wonderful film, "The Agony and the Ecstasy" with Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison. It was SO good, we watched it TWICE  That was a month ago, but just today one of my ds was alluding to the movie. Very enjoyable.
We also went to our local art museum and found the bust of Michelangelo---got a good look at his poor "busted" nose (no pun intended). Ouch!
Then we watched the National Geographic video on "the Vatican". Very good, though you gotta laugh at how they manage to work in the few scandalous popes, Galileo's trial (with misleading info, I might add) AND spend an entire hour covering the Vatican, while only uttering the word "Catholic" once, to my knowledge. Still, it's a good flick (bearing these things in mind). And as I told the children, "the eyes of the world will be focused on the Vatican in a few days."
"Inside the Vatican", the companion book to the National Geographic video, also has beautiful pictures of the Vatican, its treasures and history as well as information on the papal conclave. This is a nice book.
This weekend we plan to watch "Shoes of the Fisherman", which apparently has quite a bit on papal elections.
Kelly having fun with Michelangelo in Fl
PS Did you know that Michelangelo and St. Ignatius Loyola were friends? I think I wrote this before, but it's just SO neat to think that they actually knew each other! St. Ignatius asked him to design the Jesuit mother church, but he was busy with the Sistine chapel. He did, however, attend the groundbreaking ceremony. Also, the only extant portrait we have of Michelangelo was done by one of St. Ignatius' friends, Jacopo del Conti.
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momtomany
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| Posted: April 15 2005 at 7:08am | IP Logged
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Kelly wrote:
| PS Did you know that Michelangelo and St. Ignatius Loyola were friends? I think I wrote this before, but it's just SO neat to think that they actually knew each other! St. Ignatius asked him to design the Jesuit mother church, but he was busy with the Sistine chapel. He did, however, attend the groundbreaking ceremony. Also, the only extant portrait we have of Michelangelo was done by one of St. Ignatius' friends, Jacopo del Conti. |
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I didn't know that. My 6th grader read the Vision book about St Francis Xavier and liked it so much that he begged me to get the St Ignatius of Loyola story since he and St Francis were friends too. I was so pleased to see my son ask for a book, this is a first for him! He is not much of a reader, but since this is his first year for homeschooling, I consider this a great milestone. We will have to follow up on the Michelangelo-St Ignatius connection! Thanks! Also, lots of other good ideas for our Michelangelo trail. I'm glad that we are going to the library today!
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Beth in MD
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| Posted: April 19 2005 at 11:18pm | IP Logged
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We did many of these things during our study of Michelangelo earlier this year. In addition, we read the Stanley book on Michelangelo.
We studied his sculptures as well as his paintings (after all, he didn't consider himself to be a painter!) The kids did a bas-relief out of a bar of soap (for The Madonna of the Stairs), and also 3-D sculptures (for The David), both of soap and sculpey clay. (My dd's, aged 6 and 8, actually chose to copy the David, much to my amusement. They were anatomically correct. As if this wasn't enough, they chose to paint them, to add some color!)
When we studied the Sistine Chapel, we did the lie-down painting and frescoes. They also tried making their own cartoons, using chalk. They also painted their own Bible stories, and I taped them to the ceiling above the school table. (They're actually still there, unbelievably!)
--Beth in MD
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Kelly
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| Posted: April 21 2005 at 12:18am | IP Logged
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Beth in MD wrote:
We studied his sculptures as well as his paintings (after all, he didn't consider himself to be a painter!) The kids did a bas-relief out of a bar of soap (for The Madonna of the Stairs), and also 3-D sculptures (for The David), both of soap and sculpey clay.
What a great idea to use soap bars to make "Madonna of the Stairs"! We'll have to try that, too :-)
Kelly in FL
--Beth in MD
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Beth in MD
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| Posted: April 21 2005 at 11:26pm | IP Logged
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Hi Kelly,
The ideas weren't really mine -- they came out of an art book on Michelangelo by Green, which I also recommend!
Oh, and the soap was a tiny bit difficult to work with. (I still recommend it though). We didn't have the correct "tools" I guess. Just used different sized screw-drivers. You have to be careful you don't try to cut at 90 degree angles, or it tends to crumble away.
One thing our art teacher (in our co-op) did for bas-relief work was this: the kids used aluminum foil, placed on top of something a bit soft (she used 5x7" notepads). They used dull pencils to draw designs on the foil; then flipped them around -- and you have the raised image. (more like embossing, I guess, but it was easier than the soap. But I wanted them to do actual "carving" to feel more like sculptors for the Michelangelo study.)
Blessings!
Beth in MD
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Chari
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http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/michelangelo_buonarroti .html
This is a cool site....lots of stuff............and the main site is great, too!!
www.artcyclopedia.com
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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momtomany
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| Posted: May 06 2005 at 9:19am | IP Logged
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Thanks Chari! This is a wonderful site!
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Chari
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| Posted: May 12 2005 at 1:01am | IP Logged
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You are welcome,Mary Anne! I thought it was great also. We have read two more picture books:
Michael the Angel by Laura Fischetto
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Michelangelo's Surprise by Tony Parillo
I just love having picture books to supplement our studies! So do the kids! All ages!
And another, very wonderful resource was this DVD we borrowed from Netflix:
Michelangelo: Self Portrait (1989)
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Robert Snyder revisits a subject he knows so well ... the genius Michelangelo. Mining the great artist's diaries and poems as well as the work of his biographers, Condivi and Vasari, Snyder provides viewers with an unprecedented, in-depth look at a visionary who was far ahead of his time. This disc also includes Snyder's film The Titan: Story of Michelangelo.
We all enjoyed this DVD very much. It is well-done and easy to follow.
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Michaelangelo study
