DAY ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

On a grey wall, printed pages of different art pieces hang on a timeline under the centuries they were created. 

On the morning of our first day, we laid the groundwork for understanding the historical context of the Italian Renaissance. Mr Wadzeck gave us a brief history of what the Renaissance was, as well as important historical figures of the period, and we paired that with some interactive activities. We created a timeline of famous art pieces throughout history, read transcripts of old letters and books, and discussed the pieces and our readings. We had a fun and productive start to our J-Term, with a lot of learning involved.

Students watch a video projected on the wall.                 

During the afternoon, we bought snacks like popcorn, M&M’s, Mike and Ikes, and cookies to watch a series of one-hour episodes about Renaissance art. The episodes showed how Italian artists relied on different techniques to create their art and how they get money from the work they made. The speaker in the episodes had a pretty interesting view on different art pieces and had a good sense of humor that kept us engaged. He showed how the people within the paintings were wearing different fabrics and how expensive they were. He also showed what the fabrics were made out of and how many animals the people during that era killed for making the different clothes. At the end of class, we talked about the stories of the different artists.