Madonna of the Yarn Winder

Bancroft Elementary School Art Appreciation Program

Presents

“Madonna of the Yarn winder”

by Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

Lesson Summary:  This lesson discusses the art of the Renaissance and introduces Leonardo da Vinci.  The art project explores ‘Aerial Perspective’, an innovation in painting which daVinci introduced.

Lesson Information

Artist: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Art Title: “Madonna of the Yarn winder” Period or Style: Italian Renaissance Art Element: Aerial Perspective Project/Medium: Paint a landscape showing aerial perspective

Prep-work Required

Discussion: Familiarize yourself with current lesson details. Prep Work Email Linell to reserve the media cart one day before. Check to make sure all your supplies are available.

Presentation Materials

Images Map; Drawing of flying machine; On drive in Cabinet Lady with an Ermine; Mona Lisa; Flight into Egypt-Giotto; Madonna of the Yarn winder. Lesson Plan: Da Vinci In folder Print outs: Landscape postcards/1 for each In folder student.

Books: Getting to Know the World’s In folder Greatest Artists: Da Vinci Neo Leo

Activity Materials

Watercolor Paper 1 piece per student Palettes with blue, green, yellow, brown, black and white , One palette per 2 gray paint, brushes, water cups, golden acrylic interference students-water blue if available-otherwise a light blue acrylic paint showing cups enough to aerial perspective. share

Lesson Objectives  To introduce students to the life of Italian Renaissance artist, inventor and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most famous artists of all time.  To explore his technical innovations in painting such as chiascuro, sfumato and aerial perspective.

Presentation Timing  This project needs 60 minutes to finish. Spend approx. 15 minutes on the lesson portion and the rest on the art activity. Consider reading one of the books on da Vinci to the class after presenting facts and slides from the lesson plan.

The Renaissance

 The Renaissance refers to Italian art and architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries and centered around the Tuscan city of Florence.  ‘Renaissance” is a French word which means rebirth. It was an intellectual movement, which celebrated anything from the classics or the time of ancient Greece and Rome. They used ancient art and architecture as models for creating new works.  The followers of this movement were called Humanists and they focused on celebrating humanity and perfecting the human form. They affirmed the Humanist principle “wonders are there many, but none so wonderful as man.”  Each artist pursued his own interests, studied anatomy, perspective, and the sciences of color and vision, of engineering, and of weights and counterweights in space.  The art of the Renaissance constituted the climax of the Europe’s greatness in art and the artist achieved the status of genius.  Three men were considered geniuses of the Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520 and Michelangelo (1475-1564).

 Today we are going to learn about one of the geniuses of the Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci.  He was born in a little town, Vinci, near Florence, Italy in 1452 (show map) and died at the age of 67 in 1519.  He showed great talent as an artist at an early age and became famous not only as a painter, but as a great scientist.  He had a great curiosity of many things and filled notebooks with drawings and his observations of the world around him.  He helped to found the science of geology (the study of the earth’s surface) and botany (the study of plants).  He was a great engineer and mathematician and contributed much to the study of the human body.  He studied the flight of birds and tried to design an airplane driven by a propeller. (Show slide of flying machine drawing) We can see here he wrote his notes backwards. He did this either to keep his theories secret or because since he was left-handed he found it more convenient to do so.  He studied and designed weapons and fortification for war and was sought out by many Princes to aid them in defense systems.  His huge range of preoccupations meant that his time was thinly spread and he had a reputation of not finishing things.  People still wanted to hire him to paint for them, maybe just to have him around since he was so interesting. If he did finish a project though it was sure to be work of the highest quality and originality.  (Show ‘Lady with an Ermine’) We see here one of his finished portraits which is full of charm and dignity. The way the woman’s hand and detail of the mink she is holding shows his study of nature and physiology. Her gaze is mysterious and unforgettable.  (Show Mona Lisa). This is probably his most famous painting, which hangs in the Louvre in Paris. Her gaze is mysterious and calm and the landscape is full of fading color and mistiness.

 Medieval painting before the innovations of the Renaissance were flat, one- dimensional with little realism or perspective.  Da Vinci introduced important technical innovations that perfected painting.  Chiascuro used light and dark and the values in between to create realism in the objects in a painting.  Sfumato was a blending and subtle shading of oil paints to create less harsh outlines and a more natural look.  Aerial Perspective or the’ perspective of disappearance’ gave more atmospheric trueness to landscapes by making objects in the distance bluer and hazier. Da Vinci, motivated by his curiosity of all things, wondered why distant objects appear blue and hazy. He recognized that the atmosphere is full of moisture and dust and the further away an object is the more moisture and dust between your eyes and the object which reflects sunlight and appears blue. The greater quantity of atmosphere between your eyes and the mountains, for instance, make the mountains appear blue and almost the same color as the atmosphere itself.  (Show Giotto) If we look at Giotto’s ‘The Flight into Egypt’ at the beginning of the Renaissance we see he made their faces alive and thoughtful but there is no air around them and no depth in the hills behind them.  (Show Madonna) Compare this to da Vinci’s ‘Madonna of the Yarn winder’ and we see his use of the three techniques including Aerial Perspective creating the mountains in the distance, blue and hazy.

 Hand out a sheet of Watercolor paper per student and have them put their name and teacher’s name on the back.  Show examples of painted landscape.  Offer a landscape postcard for each student to copy from.  Have them draw a basic sketch of their landscape before they start painting.  Have paint palettes with landscape colors of paint and brushes of different sizes available to them.  Encourage them to mix colors together to create different shades as desired. Offer paper plates for mixing if needed.  Painting with different shades of the same color will make the picture show light and shadow and make it come to life!  Have water cups on tables.  Encourage them to paint the mountains in the distant blue and hazy, showing aerial perspective. Have some light blue acrylic paint for each student to use for the distant mountains if available.  Collect when finished and dry on rack.  Return the following day and collect from the art room and keep safe until the end of the year.