CLASS OVERVIEW
A FRESCO was a major type of art created during the early medieval/early Christian art period. A Fresco consisted of painting on wet plaster with paint, allowing the paint to actually become part of the wall or ceiling these frescoes were done on.
As we get ready to branch out of the BYZANTINE art style, students looked at and compared two different Madonna and Child Frescoes:
One of the frescoes was done by CIMABUE, a famous artist of the Byzantine art period; we saw how his painting consisted of several of Byzantine characteristics:
-The painting was one dimensional, lacking detail and depth
-The colors were sombre
-The faces were all front facing, and all similar, lacking any emotion or expression.
The other fresco we compared it to was by Cimabue's student, GIOTTO:
-The painting had depth and more detail
-The colors were brighter and had more variation
-The faces were facing different directions, and were different from one another with more expression
PROJECT
To capture the most authentic experience of painting a Fresco that we can in our limited art class space and time, students began the first step today by making their own paint. Paint from back then was made with egg and pigments. Students began by grinding up their own "pigments" (Chalk Pastels). They then had a blast - with a few "EWWWWS!" - separating their eggs to preserve the yolk for the paint. We look forward to using this collection of homemade paints next week as students' paint their own frescos!
ASSIGNMENT
Students need to fill in the index card they brought home with the title of their favorite Bible story that they will be featuring in their fresco. Please sketch out a simple drawing of this story on the card, as a plan of how it will be painted on the fresco next week.
