Materials

• Internet access and/or other teacher-provided art resources
• Slides, a video, or a teacher-developed overhead or electronic presentation of Renaissance art

Instructional Activities

1. Begin by having students respond to the following question:
   
   • What forms do today’s artists use to express themselves?
   
   Have students give examples of a variety of modern-day art forms, such as painting, sculpture, cartoons, computer art, and other forms. Explain that painting and sculpture were popular art forms during the Renaissance.
   
   
2. Use slides, overhead transparencies, an electronic presentation, or a video to show examples of Renaissance art.
   
   
3. As the class discusses the examples of Renaissance art in the visual presentation, incorporate the art terms and artists that students defined in their homework assignment.
   
   
4. Divide students into groups of 3-4 students each and assign them a Renaissance artist to research. Possibilities could include Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Van Eyck, Holbein, Durer, Massacio, and Donatello.
   
   OR
   
   Divide class into groups of 3-4 students, and assign them to research and analyze a work of Renaissance art, sculpture, or architecture. Instruct students to prepare a description of the work in detail, looking for Greco-Roman inspiration, secular subject matter, perspective, emphasis on the individual, and the portrayal of emotion. If time allows, have them compare the work to another by the same artist or in the same medium.
   
   
5. Use the remainder of the period for student research.