Agony and the Ecstasy--

Students will view Agony and the Ecstasy.  Can be rented from the video store or taped next time it appears on Turner Classic Movies.

Click below to view a worksheet to accompany the video. 

Restored-
Have students view Michelangelo, Restored.  PBS, taping rights one year. 
For 13 years, camera crews followed the painstaking restoration of the Sistine Chapel and the cleaning of Michelangelo's frescoes.  The program documents this amazing rebirth, as well as the complexity of the great master's extraordinary accomplishment.

Art Activity:
Objective: The student will examine the process of creating a ceiling painting in order to develop an empathy for the laborious nature of Michelangelo's work.

Vocabulary: Renaissance, fresco, figure painting

Materials: 12"x18"white construction paper, tempera paint

Procedure: Michelangelo was a gifted sculpture painter. He studied the art of the old masters in Florence and learned to paint frescoes, paintings on wet plaster. His most famous painting was a fresco on the 10,000 square foot ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He lay for hours at a time on a scaffold more than 50 feet in the air, with paint dripping into his eyes. It took him four years to complete this magnificent work of art. Discuss how Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel. See my Renaissance links for background information on Michelangelo. Instruct the students to tape a sheet of paper to the underside of their desks. Lying on their backs and using watercolors, the students will create some sort of celestial scene. This can be real or imaginary. (birds, hot air balloons, UFO's airplanes, angels etc.) Before they start to paint, suggest that they lightly sketch their scene first. The paint will drip if students are not careful to blot their brush until it is only damp. Try to display these on the ceiling

Evaluation: participates in discussion, good craftsmanship, creates a celestial scene, proper use of materials