Renaissance, History painting, Academy, Classicism, Linear perspective, Visual literacy
Art and design
- Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
- Know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms
- Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
- Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
Art and design
- Look at and talk about the work of artists, designers and craftsworkers from their own and other cultures; appreciate methods used in the resource materials and use their appreciation to stimulate personal ideas and engage with informed art making
- Develop their understanding of the visual elements of colour, tone, line, shape, form, space, texture and pattern to communicate their ideas
- Evaluate their own and others’ work and how it was made, explain and share their ideas, discuss difficulties and review and modify work to find solutions
Art and design
- I can create and present work that shows developing skill in using the visual elements and concepts (EXA 2-03a)
- Through observing and recording from my experiences across the curriculum, I can create images and objects which show my awareness and recognition of detail (EXA 2-04a)
- Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design (EXA 2-05a)
- I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others' work (EXA 2-07a)
Art and design
- Describe and make comparisons between their own work and that of others
- Experiment with and examine the methods used by other artists from different periods, places and cultures
- Evaluate the methods and results of their own work and that of their fellow pupils
- Pupils should be stimulated and inspired by: other artists; methods and processes; media; styles; ideas
- Explore, experiment with and apply the elements of the visual, tactile and sensory language of art, craft and design which include: line, tone, colour, pattern, texture, shape and form
Expressive Arts
Exploring the expressive arts is essential to developing artistic skills and knowledge and it enables learners to become curious and creative individuals.
Progression step 3:
- I can explore the effects that a range of creative techniques, materials, processes, resources, tools and technologies have on my own and others' creative work.
- I can explore how creative work can represent, document, share and celebrate personal, social and cultural identities.
- I can explore and describe how artists and creative work communicate mood, feelings and ideas and the impact they have on an audience.
Responding and reflecting, both as artist and audience, is a fundamental part of learning in the expressive arts.
Progression step 3:
- I can give and consider constructive feedback about my own creative work and that of others, reflecting on it and making improvements where necessary.
- I can apply knowledge and understanding of context, and make connections between my own creative work and creative work by other people and from other places and times.
- I can reflect upon how artists have achieved effects or communicated moods, emotions and ideas in their work.
Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano probably about 1438-40
Paolo Uccello (1397–1475)
The National Gallery, LondonThis is one of the lesson resources in The Superpower of Looking on history paintings. It focuses on Paulo Uccello's painting from c.1438–1440, Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano.
These lesson resources are also in the history theme:
To teach this lesson, download the teachers' notes on a separate device, screen or print them off. Have this webpage open on your screen or whiteboard and use the prompts in the teachers' notes to guide your students through the lesson.
History paintings relate important stories and – perhaps confusingly – the category includes religious and mythological stories alongside historical scenes. Often these works contain an important message and the size of the work (its scale) can be significant as a result.
Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano (1438–1440)
Paulo Uccello (1397–1475)
Medium: egg tempera with walnut oil and linseed oil on poplar
Dimensions: H 182 x W 320 cm
One of three panels that comprised the whole scene, this large-scale history painting in London's National Gallery recalls a Florentine victory over the neighbouring Sienese. Today the other two panels are in the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi Galleries in Florence.
The Italian artist Paulo Uccello is described by his biographer Giorgio Vasari as becoming quite obsessed with perspective – he recounts the story of how Uccello's wife complained that the artist stayed up all night wrestling with vanishing points and exclaiming, 'Oh, what a lovely thing perspective is!'
Do you think he was successful in creating a real, three-dimensional space that you could walk into? Or, do you think that the real conflict was between two and three dimensions for this artist? In one sense it appears flat and in another modelled in space. Where are these much-celebrated lines of perspective (linear perspective) most evident? Can you spot the use of foreshortening? What, in contrast, makes this painting feel flat and decorative?
Open a full-screen version of the zoomable image in a new window.
Ask your students to describe the artwork, encouraging them to simply say what they can see.
You can start by showing the whole image, and then use the zoom feature to explore details of the painting. Or you might like to start by using the zoom feature to show a detail from the image, and then zoom out to see more.
Encourage your students to look carefully – this is their superpower! It's best to not give too much background information about the artwork at this stage, so students can develop their own ideas and opinions.
Now when looking at the painting, ask more specific ('nudge') questions:
Now we can start to explore the 'elements' of the painting.
Use The Superpower of Looking Kit to ask questions about the artwork.
For this artwork, you will focus on:
Ask your students to evidence their points:
You may like to introduce knowledge from the contextual background for teachers at this point.
You can find out more about The Superpower of Looking SEND/ASD/ALN approach on the Superpower homepage.
Now it's time to explore the artwork in different ways. This list of sensory activities encourages students to apply their learning and can suit a variety of learning needs.
Make
Listen
Touch
Move
Communicate
Ask your students to:
Congratulations!
You have now completed this lesson resource on The Superpower of Looking.
There are more resources in this theme to try – have a look at the 'next lessons' section below.
