2024-25 Spring Term 2

 

Year 3 & 4

Monuments of Ancient Rome

This unit, in Spring B, dovetails with the history curriculum, where Romans are studied for the whole of the term. Children therefore start with knowledge of the founding, governance and society of Ancient Rome. In the first lesson, they revise some of this in preparation for the exploration of the relationship between various emperors and the monuments they built, looking at three monuments in detail: the Pantheon (lessons 1 and 2), the Colosseum (lessons 3 and 4) and Trajan’s Column (lesson 5). They explore the features of each monument, their construction and how they displayed the power of the emperor who had them built, or who they were in memory of. They will revisit the unique design of the Pantheon’s concrete dome in year 6 in the unit on Renaissance Architecture and Sculpture when they study the construction of the dome of Florence Cathedral.

To cement their knowledge of its design, over the course of six lessons, the children create their own model of the Pantheon in groups. They are required to interpret and follow instructions, explore how to use different materials, think creatively, find solutions and work successfully with their peers.

Year 5 & 6

Renaissance Architecture and Sculpture

This unit builds on the children’s knowledge of the renaissance from work in the previous unit on Art in the Italian Renaissance. In the first lesson, they revisit the concept of linear perspective, focussing on the work of the architect Brunelleschi, and his design for the dome of Florence cathedral. The children make detailed drawings of this famous building. In lesson 2, through the work of Ghiberti, on the doors of the Florence baptistery, they explore the concept of relief sculpture, already studied by looking at the Parthenon Marbles in the unit on Architecture in year 3.

Lessons 3-6 of the unit focus on the work of Michelangelo. They learn in lesson 3 that, as well as working as a painter (painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, as studied in Autumn 1) Michelangelo worked as an architect and was partly responsible for the design of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They go on to learn in lesson 4 that, despite his talent in both painting and architecture, Michelangelo primarily considered himself to be a sculptor. Through the study of his huge carved sculpture David (perhaps one of the most famous sculptures in the world), they compare relief sculpture with sculpture in the round. In lesson 5 they look at the Belvedere Torso and discover how sculpture in the renaissance was influenced by classical sculpture.

They conclude the unit in lesson 6 by connecting ideas of classical representation, revitalised in the renaissance, with modern day sculpture by comparing the work of contemporary sculptor Thomas J. Price with Michelangelo’s David. The children use their drawings of Florence cathedral, completed in lessons 1 and 2, to undertake an extended project to design and make a relief sculpture in lessons 3-6. This exercise allows them to develop their skills of rolling, modelling and carving clay.