Sunday, July 28, 2013

Italian Renaissance Art Tour!

In our recent Renaissance studies, we learned that St Francis of Assisi was foundational to the birth of Italian Renaissance art.


St Francis was not an artist himself, of course, but he helped bring about a new religious vision that emphasized the human and the personal. This new humanistic thinking gradually began to be reflected in works of art.

On our art tour of Italy in June (2013), we went to Assisi and saw the home of St Francis. We visited San Damiano, the little church which St Francis famously rebuilt...



...and inside we saw the crucifix that he said spoke to him.



We also visited the hermitage on top of Mount Subasio where St Francis lived, preached, and meditated.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Homeschool History, Religion, and Culture Studies (Part 6): Early and Italian Renaissance


So far, we have studied Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Romethe Hebrews, the birth of Christianity, the Middle Ages, and Hinduism and India. For the last five months we have been studying the Italian Renaissance and in June we went on the most amazing trip to Italy, where we saw so many of the most famous Renaissance art works (more on our trip later).

As usual, we used Gloria Fiero's Humanistic Tradition to start us off with our studies, but then we read and watched lots of other cool stuff too and went on tours of museums and churches both in NY and in Italy. 

Books 
The Decameron by Boccaccio
Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy

Art in Renaissance Italy, John Paoletti
The Very Short Introduction to the Renaissance by Jerry Brotton
The Very Short Introduction to the Renaissance Art by Geraldine Johnson

 

Lectures 
Great Courses, History of Western Art with Professor William Kloss (17 lectures on Renaissance art)

Documentaries 

Medici's: Godfather's of the Renaissance - four episodes (PBS)
Art of the Western World - Episodes 1 to 8 (Michael Wood, BBC)
Renaissance - first three episodes (Andrew Graham Dixon, BBC 2)
Power of the Past, Art in Florence (Bill Moyers, PBS)
Private Life of a Masterpiece - episodes on Botticelli, Piero della Francesco, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Lippi (BBC)
Life of Leonardo da Vinci, 1971 Italian TV mini-series

Raphael: A Mortal God, BBC Documentary
The Divine Michelangelo, BBC Documentary

Tours and Museums:  

Renaissance art tour at the Metropolitan Museum, NY
Scuola Grande Di San Rocco, Venice
Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
San Pantaleone, Venice
Galleria dell'Academia, Venice
St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace, Venice
Arena Chapel, Padua
Dante's Museum and Church, Florence
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence
The Baptistry, Florence
Uffizi, Florence
Galleria dell'Academia, Florence
"The Springtime of the Renaissance," Special Exhibit at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence 
Museo Bargelo, Florence
Sante Croce, Florence
Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Brancacci Cappella, Florence
Basilica di San Francesco, Assisi
Basilica di Santa Chiara, Assisi
San Damiano, Assisi
Vatican Museums, Rome
St Peter's Basilica, Rome

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

A Monster in the Hudson River??



 A group of NY homeschoolers thought that there might be a monster dwelling in the Hudson River. I went with them to investigate!