Students in 4th grade learned about Michelangelo and his painting from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Whenever he worked on the ceiling, Michelangelo had to climb to the top of scaffolding and then bend backward while holding the paint brush above his head for hours while he painted. Can you imagine how uncomfortable it would be to spend several years leaning backward, straining your neck, and keeping your hand raised for hours in a day? Michelangelo's hard work resulted in one of the most beautiful series of paintings in the world. The students experienced a little moment of what Michelangelo experienced by taping their plain white papers underneath their desks and drawing when lying on their backs. Then they took their artwork and drew that same picture when sitting at their desk like they normally do. There was quite a difference in most of the student's two pieces of artwork. It was an eye opening fun day in art class!
top of page
bottom of page