Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1598-1680

GIAN LORENZO BERNINI

1598-1680

There are two devices which can help the sculptor to judge his work: one is not to see it for a while. The other... is to look at his work through spectacles which will change its color and magnify or diminish it, so as to disguise it somehow to his eye, and make it look as though it were the work of another... Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Grades K-2 PowerPoint Lesson Plan

OBJECTIVES

HISTORY: Places an artwork in its art historical context. Students will be able to identify the dramatic movement and emotionalism of Baroque sculpture.

CRITICISM: Informed talk about art. Students can describe the difference between a sculptural form and a two dimensional art work.

AESTHETICS: Questions the nature, value and beauty of art. Students compare Michelangelo’s sculptures to Bernini’s sculptures and discuss whether or not one style is better than the other.

PRODUCTION: Creating art. Students will create a self-portrait that is a sculptural form.

VOCABULARY

Note to volunteers The vocabulary words will be in bold italics throughout the lesson. They will be defined within the text of the lesson and do not need to be presented separately. The definitions included under this section of the lesson are very detailed and intended for adults.

Form: an object that has volume that takes up space. A three-dimensional object that height, width and depth. (Shape only has two dimensions, height and width.)

Note to volunteers To help students understand what a form is, bring in a ball (form) and a circle cut-out (shape) for comparison so that the students have a visual example. A

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cut-out of a square or rectangle could be compared to a box.

Sculpture: any work of art carried out in three dimensions (height, width and depth). An artist who creates sculpture is called a sculptor.

RELIGION GUIDELINES

Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley issued this statement from the U.S. Department of Education, in June of 1998. (These guidelines were re-released in December of 1999 without change.)

Teaching about religion: Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture: the history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other scripture)-as-literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries all are permissible public school subjects. Similarly, it is permissible to consider religious influences on art, music, literature, and social studies.

To look at the specific Beaverton School District policy on studying religious beliefs and customs, visit the school district’s website, www.beavton.k12.or.us. Click on school board, then school board policies, then section IGACA.

NUDITY GUIDELINES

This lesson uses slides which contain some nudity. Although the nudity may not be considered “graphic,” the figure is not clothed. When using these slides you must take the following step. 1. The school Art Literacy coordinator must notify the school principal in advance of the volunteer presentation. Show the principal the materials that will be used. If the principal is not in agreement with your presentation, do not go ahead with the presentation as planned (substitute a slide which meets with the approval of the principal). Remember, your presentation directly reflects on the school. A parent will probably not make a distinction between the school and Art Literacy, in their mind they are one and the same. To look at the specific Beaverton School District policy on studying controversial issues, visit the school district’s website, www.beavton.k12.or.us. Click on school board, then school board policies, then section INB.

INTRODUCTION

DAVID BY MICHELANGELO 1501-04, MARBLE, 17’ Let me start by telling you a story. A very long time ago, a young artist named Bernini, went to see a famous sculpture of a boy named David. He looked at it and thought to himself, “This statue of David is beautiful, but he doesn’t look like he is ready for a battle.” Bernini had read the story in the Bible about the young shepherd named David who had used a slingshot to kill a giant. This David didn’t look ready for a fight and Bernini just KNEW he could make a more exciting sculpture.

DAVID BY BERNINI, 1623-24, MARBLE, LIFE-SIZE Here is the sculpture of David, by the famous artist we are going to learn about today,

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whose name was Gian Lorenzo Bernini (GEE-awn low-REN-so burr-NEE-nee). Can you say that with me – Gian Lorenzo Bernini. What do you think- does this David look like he’s ready for a fight?

HISTORY

SELF-PORTRAIT-HEAD C.1675, TERRACOTTA, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was born in Italy a long time ago. His father was a sculptor. A sculptor is an artist who makes artwork like this statue. Sculptures are not flat like paintings or drawings, sculptures take up space. You can walk all the way around a sculpture and it can look different from every side. They can be made from many different kinds of materials. This one is made of clay and gives us an idea of what Bernini looked like.

When Bernini was 10 years old, everyone noticed how good his art was and instead of Bernini studying by himself, they started to teach him to become an artist. Everyone thought he was a genius! He became a sculptor like his father.

STONECUTTER WITH MALLET AND CHISEL Most of the sculptures made by Bernini and other artists during this time were carved from a very hard stone called marble. The tools sculptors use for carving stone like you see here, are a hammer called a mallet and sharp metal tools called chisels.

The sculptor hits the flat end of the chisel with the mallet which shatters and breaks off the stone. The stone is slowly carved away using these tools. The artist chips away all the parts of the stone that are not part of their design. It takes a long time to carve a sculpture depending on how big or small it is. Many of the sculptures Bernini carved took a year or more to finish.

APOLLO AND DAPHNE 1622-1624, MARBLE Bernini’s sculptures were very exciting. He told stories with his artworks that showed how the people in them were feeling and make us feel like we are watching the story right in front of us.

This is a close up view of a sculpture that tells the make believe story of a girl whose father turns her into a tree so she will not be caught by the boy chasing her. This is an exciting part of the story. The boy sees that the girl’s hair is turning into leaves, and her hands are turning into branches. Look at their faces. What do you think they are thinking? The figures in this sculpture almost look like real people who are frozen in time and they are what we call life-size, or the same size as a person would be.

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FOUNTAIN OF FOUR RIVERS 1651, ROME, ITALY, PIAZZA NAVONA This is the Fountain of Four Rivers that Bernini also designed. Even though it is almost 400 years old, it is a still a popular place for people to visit in Rome today.

In the fountain, there are four large marble sculptures that stand for four great rivers in different parts of the world. The fountain also has sculptures of the plants and animals that live and grow by each river. As you walk around the fountain, the view of what you see will change.

FOUNTAIN OF FOUR RIVERS, DETAIL 1651,ROME, ITALY, PIAZZA NAVONA Here is another view of one of the sculptures as you go around the fountain. Sculptures take up space and in art they are called forms. Say that with me - forms.

Forms take up space. They are what we call three dimensional. They are tall, (height) wide (width) and deep (depth). Paintings and drawings are flat and have only two dimensions. (Height and width.) We call things that are flat, shapes.

Look at all the different views we can see of the same fountain when walking around it!

Note to volunteers Left click your mouse two more times to fade in two more views of the fountain, one at a time.

DAVID 1623-24, MARBLE LIFE-SIZE, GALLERIA BORGHESE, ROME, ITALY Let’s go back to a minute to the sculpture of David we first looked at. (If you did the Introduction, you saw this piece.) Even though we are looking at a picture of this sculpture that looks flat, in real life it takes up space, just like your body.

Here are two different views of it, one from the front and what you’d see when you walk around the back of it.

Now let’s take a closer look at only one view of this sculpture.

CRITICISM

Sensory Properties: What do you see? 1. If a shape is flat like a painting or drawing and a form takes up space, would you say this sculpture is a shape or a form? (A form.) 2. Does this man look realistic? (Yes, extremely.) 3. If you were visiting the place where this sculpture is, describe how you would look at it that would be different from looking at a painting on the wall? (Because sculptures are three-dimensional forms, they will look different from different angles; a person needs to walk around the entire sculpture to see all the angles.)

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Formal Properties: How is it arranged? 1. To make their artwork more interesting to look at, many artists will create contrasts in their work. Contrasts are things that are different in the same artwork. For example, an artist might contrast a dark color with a light color. In a sculpture, dark and light shadows may appear. A smooth texture could be contrasted with a rough or bumpy texture. Curving lines could be contrasted with straight lines. When you look at this sculpture, where do you see contrasts or differences in light and shadow? (There are contrasts in dark and light with the way the shadows fall through-out this sculpture.)

Technical Properties: What media, tools and techniques were used? 1. What tools do you think Bernini would have needed in order to carve this sculpture? (A piece of marble, mallets or hammers, different sizes of chisels, maybe a ladder. Usually an artist would first construct a clay model of the piece before starting to carve it. Marble was costly and you didn’t want to make mistakes!)

Expressive Properties: What mood or idea does it express? Bernini’s sculptures bring us right into the action of whatever his figures are doing. We feel like we are right there living the story along with them. In this sculpture, Bernini chooses to show us the moment just before David is going to fight the giant Goliath. He has been given armor to protect himself, but he decided not to wear it and it lies at his feet. They thought he should use a sword, but instead he picks the weapon he is most familiar with – the slingshot that he uses to chase the wolves away from the sheep he looks after.

1. Who do you imagine David is looking at here? (Goliath.) 2. If you were standing next to David at this moment, what do you think you would be thinking or doing? (Ducking or running!)

AESTHETICS

DAVID BY MICHELANGELO, 1501-04, MARBLE DAVID BY BERNINI, 1623-24, MARBLE, LIFE-SIZE

Note to volunteers These questions are meant to be open-ended; there is no right or wrong answer.

Think back to the two David sculptures at the beginning of our lesson. One was quiet, still and beautiful, and Bernini’s was full of movement and action. Do you think one is better than the other? Why or why not?

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HISTORY (cont.)

BUST OF LOUIS XIV 1665, MARBLE People who could pay for it, often wanted a sculpture of themselves made. Remember, there were no cameras back then. Most of these sculptures showed only someone’s shoulders and head, but not their body. This is the portrait of a famous king (Louis XIV of France). This kind of portrait is called a “bust”.

Unlike most artists, Bernini didn’t mind being watched while he worked. When he got older, he sometimes concentrated so hard on his creating his large sculptures while standing on high scaffolding that an assistant had to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t accidentally fall off!

Bernini lived to be 82 years old and today, many people think he is one of the greatest sculptors who ever lived.

PRODUCTION Criteria: Students create a sculptural form of a self portrait.

Materials: 1 wet ball of white air-dry clay (such as Stonex brand) the size of a golf ball per student 1 gallon-size Ziploc bag per classroom Various clay tools to use for carving such as plastic knives, toothpicks, wooden skewers, popsicle sticks or tongue depressors, garlic press for hair Dowels for rolling out clay 1 bowl, cup of water per 4 students 1 disposable plastic lunch-size plate per student (reusable) Slips of scrap paper Markers to write name Area in classroom to let clay dry for 24+ hours

Volunteer Preparation: 1. Several days to shortly before class project, open clay container and divide clay up into enough golf-size balls of white clay so each student in the classroom has one and put them in one of the gallon Ziplocs bags and close tightly so clay doesn’t dry out. 3. After the clay sculptures have dried, they can be put into the snack size plastic Ziploc bags with the name tag showing and put up on bulletin boards with push pins.

Instructions: 1. Hand out disposable plastic plates, balls of clay, clay tools and bowls of water to students. 2. Remind students that sculptors like Bernini carved very realistic, life-sized human figures. They often sculpted their plan using clay before carving it in stone. 3. Students will create a simple portrait made from an oval that has eyes, nose, lips, hair

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etc. added to it. 4. Students can use dowels to roll out their piece of clay onto wax paper. 5. Use a blunt tool to cut out an oval from the rolled out clay. Save the scrap for the features. 6. Talk about the position of the features on your face. * Your eyes are halfway between the top of your head and chin. * The tip of your nose is halfway between your eyes and chin. * Your lips are halfway between the tip of your nose and your chin. 7. Show students how to form flat oval shapes for eyes and add a flat round eyeball. 8. Use one finger of water to attach any pieces of clay to the face. A little water goes a long way. The water acts like glue and without it the pieces will fall off later when they are dry. Too much water turns the clay into a puddle, so use just a little and add more water if you need it. 9. Demonstrate how to model a nose shape and attach it to the face using a little water. Blend the edges of the nose onto the face so the edges disappear. 10. Roll out skinny ropes to form upper and lower lips, hair and any other details they wish to add. 11. If desired, a small hole may be pierced at the top to hang the portrait later. 12. Write each student’s name on a small plate where their piece will be left to dry. 13. A small piece of paper may be waded up and gently put under the face to give it a more three dimensional look after it is finished. This may need to be done by the volunteer or gently by the students.

Page Clothier, Jill Bogle - 2010

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