LEARNING WITH ART using the Inquiry- and Object-based Approach. Examining Sculpture In Ancient Rome The Art of History

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1 LEARNING WITH ART using the Inquiry- and Object-based Approach Examining Sculpture In Ancient Rome The Art of History By Dave Barr for the MoMA MOOC Art & Inquiry

2 BASIC INFORMATION 1. Subject Area: The Arts (Ontario Curriculum) 2. Intended grade level range: Artwork Selection: see images below 4. Artwork Title: Bust of Tiberius [Royal Ontario Museum ] 5. Artist: Unknown 6. Date: AD Reign of Tiberius 7. Materials: Marble

3 THE BIG IDEA (broad, universal): A portrait reveals truths about both... The artist and her art, and The subject

4 THEME: IDENTITY: art reveals personality and history (historical personalities are revealed in the art of portraiture) Based on the Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: The Arts, 2010 (revised) -developing aesthetic awareness; constructing and analysing art works, with a focus on analysing and communicating the meaning of the work; understanding cultural traditions and innovations; creating and interpreting art works on their own

5 TOPIC: The Emperor in Ancient Rome A complex society A strong leader A central role for art

6 OUR OBJECT: A Bust of The Emperor Tiberius Artist unknown AD Gallery of Ancient Rome at the Royal Ontario Museum

7 LEARNING OUTCOMES Students will: be able to approach any work of art as an exercise in inquiry be able to create multi-media works that express their learning realize that creation of a historical portrait is a special kind of art, a work usually commissioned by a patron realize that the artist creating a commissioned portrait will strive to create an accurate likeness as well as to capture the personality of the subject realize that the artist faces competing objectives: pleasing the patron vs. pleasing herself - the result may be features more flattering than reality together with subtle expressions of disapproval realize that historical portraiture is always constrained by the available technologies and prevailing esthetic tastes of the age realize that historical portraiture often demonstrates the ravages of time as well as the original intentions of the artist and the patron

8 LOOKING Spend some time just looking at the work. Walk all around it to see it from every side.

CLOSE LOOKING Take a sheet of typing paper and role it into a

rolled Make tubes of various sizes, ranging from about 1 inch

telescope to zero in on various features of the work don't

9 CLOSE LOOKING Take a sheet of typing paper and role it into a tube Use a rubber band around the tube to keep the paper rolled Make tubes of various sizes, ranging from about 1 inch in diameter to about 3 inches in diameter Use the tube like a telescope to zero in on various features of the work don't touch the sculpture with the paper Describe what you see through the tube

10 Conceptual Framing of the Object:

11 OPEN-ENDED DISCOVERY QUESTIONS Why do you think the sculptor created this bust of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius? How can you interpret the expression on Tiberius' face? How much do you think this work looks like the emperor himself? What roles do you think artists might have played in ancient Rome? What do you think is the artist's opinion of Tiberius? What do you think is Tiberius' opinion of the artist? What might have been the history of this work?

12 CRITICAL FACTUAL MATERIAL In ancient Rome they had no cameras, and most portrait paintings were stylized and unrealistic Virtually all ancient Roman statues were painted before being put on public display They had access to only a few pigments for painting; these included red (cinnabar), Egyptian blue (copper oxide), white (lead oxide) and brown (ochre); Tyrian purple was very expensive and used mostly for the robes of royalty

13 BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor. If a man was "proclaimed emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed augustus, or (for generals) imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives). Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as caesar, princeps senatus, consul and Pontifex Maximus. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army. The strengths of Roman sculpture are in portraiture, where they were less concerned with the ideal than the Greeks or Ancient Egyptians, and produced many very characterful works, and in narrative relief scenes. Examples of Roman sculpture are abundantly preserved, in total contrast to Roman painting, which was very widely practiced but has almost all been lost. Latin and some Greek authors, particularly Pliny the Elder in Book 34 of his Natural History, describe statues, and a few of these descriptions match extant works. While a great deal of Roman sculpture survives more or less intact, it is often damaged or fragmentary. A native Italian style can be seen in the tomb monuments of prosperous middle-class Romans, which very often featured portrait busts, and portraiture is arguably the main strength of Roman sculpture. There are no survivals from the tradition of masks of ancestors that were worn in processions at the funerals of the great families and otherwise displayed in the home, but many of the busts that survive must represent ancestral figures, perhaps from the large family tombs like the Tomb of the Scipios or the later mausolea outside the city. The famous bronze head supposedly of Lucius Junius Brutus is very variously dated, but taken as a very rare survival of Italic style under the Republic, in the preferred medium of bronze.[4] Similarly stern and forceful heads are seen in the coins of the consuls, and in the Imperial period coins as well as busts sent around the Empire to be placed in the basilicas of provincial cities were the main visual form of imperial propaganda; even Londinium had a nearcolossal statue of Nero, though far smaller than the 30 metre high Colossus of Nero in Rome, now lost.[5] The Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker, a successful freedman (c BC) has a frieze that is an unusually large example of the "plebeian" style.[6] [All factual material drawn from Wikipedia]

14 ACTIVITY #1 Art making Using crayon pencils, color a black-and-white drawing of Emperor Tiberius to show what it might have looked like originally Use only the colors available to ancient Roman artists

15 ACTIVITY #1 (cont'd.) Print a copy of this sheet for every student

16 ACTIVITY #2a Role play Students take turns playing Tiberius and a reporter interviewing him The scene is unscripted; questions draw out Tiberius' personality and attitude toward art A third student uses an ipad to video record the interview and post it to YouTube

ACTIVITY #2b Role play Students take turns playing Tiberius (seated) and a citizen come to request a favor (kneeling) The scene is unscripted; the citizen's

17 ACTIVITY #2b Role play Students take turns playing Tiberius (seated) and a citizen come to request a favor (kneeling) The scene is unscripted; the citizen's requests draw out Tiberius' personality and attitude toward his subjects A third student uses an ipad to video record this audience with the emperor and post it to YouTube

18 This guide is an example of the use of objectbased and inquiry based exploration of historical art. The guide is released as an open educational resource and may be freely copied and modified to suit specific teaching requirements. It should be possible to modify the general approach adopted here for use with any type of portrait, whether 2- or 3-dimensional. Creative Commons Share/Attribution License

Keywords for the study of Junior Cert art

Keywords for the study of Junior Cert art able abstract acrylic activity aesthetic/aesthetics analyze ancient animation applied arch arches architect architectural architecture art art process artist artistic artists arts artwork artworks assemble