Early Italian Renaisannce
Day 1: Draw it
15 minute sketch of "Mona Lisa"
Day 2: Write it
Title: "Mona Lisa" (Madame Lisa) or "La Gioconda" (The Happy One)
By: Leonardo da Vinci, C. 1500
-Thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini the wife of Francesco del Giocondo
-"Mona" is a polite form of of address like Ma'am
-Best known and most visited piece of art in the world
-On display at The Louvre in Paris, France
-Her hands signify her as a virtuous woman and a faithful wife
-Eyebrows and eyelashes missing - was common at the time for upperclass ladies to pluck all of those hairs but scans of the painting have revealed that she was originally painted with them but have gradually disappeared over time.
-Renaissance was a time of rebirth in the west (Europe). da Vinci kept sketchbooks where he took notes on ideas, inventions, his studies, and his journal. He had many notebooks with thousands of pages. His sketches of inventions pre-date modern technology (printing press, telescope, flying machines, helicopters, parachutes, tanks, etc). He also studied the human body and they're so accurate that medical students today could use them to study.
-Because of all of the studying and education going on people began to rediscover what the Greeks and Romans had already known such as: perspective, anatomy, and composition. The Mona Lisa shows all of these. Perspective - distance and space. Anatomy - her hands, her face structure. Composition - how the portrait is laid out and framed (pyramid design)
-Stolen in August 1911. A french poet once said the Louve should be burned down and was arrested for suspicion. He tried to implicate Pablo Picasso (another artist we'll study later) but both were let go. "Mona Lisa" was lost for two years until they found out an employee of the museum had stolen it. The employee was Italian and believed that it should be returned to Italy where it was originally from. Before it was stolen, it was not widely known outside of the art world and it was only praised as an Italian Renaissance Masterwork since the 1860's.
Other important things in it's history that won't be on the test:
- 1939 - taken to the country for WW2
-1956 - a vandal threw acid on it
-1956 - a rock was thrown at it
- Between these it was shielded with bulletproof glass
-1974 - sprayed red paint at it
- 2009 - Teacup thrown at it
15 minute sketch of "Mona Lisa"
Day 2: Write it
Title: "Mona Lisa" (Madame Lisa) or "La Gioconda" (The Happy One)
By: Leonardo da Vinci, C. 1500
-Thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini the wife of Francesco del Giocondo
-"Mona" is a polite form of of address like Ma'am
-Best known and most visited piece of art in the world
-On display at The Louvre in Paris, France
-Her hands signify her as a virtuous woman and a faithful wife
-Eyebrows and eyelashes missing - was common at the time for upperclass ladies to pluck all of those hairs but scans of the painting have revealed that she was originally painted with them but have gradually disappeared over time.
-Renaissance was a time of rebirth in the west (Europe). da Vinci kept sketchbooks where he took notes on ideas, inventions, his studies, and his journal. He had many notebooks with thousands of pages. His sketches of inventions pre-date modern technology (printing press, telescope, flying machines, helicopters, parachutes, tanks, etc). He also studied the human body and they're so accurate that medical students today could use them to study.
-Because of all of the studying and education going on people began to rediscover what the Greeks and Romans had already known such as: perspective, anatomy, and composition. The Mona Lisa shows all of these. Perspective - distance and space. Anatomy - her hands, her face structure. Composition - how the portrait is laid out and framed (pyramid design)
-Stolen in August 1911. A french poet once said the Louve should be burned down and was arrested for suspicion. He tried to implicate Pablo Picasso (another artist we'll study later) but both were let go. "Mona Lisa" was lost for two years until they found out an employee of the museum had stolen it. The employee was Italian and believed that it should be returned to Italy where it was originally from. Before it was stolen, it was not widely known outside of the art world and it was only praised as an Italian Renaissance Masterwork since the 1860's.
Other important things in it's history that won't be on the test:
- 1939 - taken to the country for WW2
-1956 - a vandal threw acid on it
-1956 - a rock was thrown at it
- Between these it was shielded with bulletproof glass
-1974 - sprayed red paint at it
- 2009 - Teacup thrown at it
Day 3: Creative Drawing
Create your own parody of "Mona Lisa" Check out the ones below and come up with your own. (15 minutes)
Create your own parody of "Mona Lisa" Check out the ones below and come up with your own. (15 minutes)
Day 4: Creative Writing
Pretend you are a journalist who was sent back in time to interview Leonardo da Vinci and Mona Lisa. What questions would you ask them? (At least 5)
Day 5: Check Exittix for a link to your quiz.
Pretend you are a journalist who was sent back in time to interview Leonardo da Vinci and Mona Lisa. What questions would you ask them? (At least 5)
Day 5: Check Exittix for a link to your quiz.