
In a recent lesson, I showed a video about Michelangelo to my fifth and sixth grade art students. The cartoon (Getting to Know Michelangelo) told of Michelangelo's childhood, his love for sculpture, his masterpieces, and other well known information regarding the famous artist. Along with all that content, the video showed a not-so-glamorous side of the Italian artist that a lot of people did not know.
For instance:
*Did you know that often seen as an arrogant artist, he was really hard to get along with? So much, in fact, that he got in a fight with another art student and ended up with a broken nose!
*Did you know that he even snuck into morgues and operated on dead bodies to get a better understanding of human anatomy?
*Also, he did NOT like painting. He'd much rather sculpt or design buildings than be painting that lame old Sistine Chapel for a Pope.
*Even though the Sistine Chapel is seen as a masterpiece by today's standards, Michelangelo's naked paintings caused quite a stir during the Renaissance.
The instant the video was over, students' hands shot up with questions. We discussed the many reasons why someone arrogant would be hard to get along with, and why his statues are famous, and how sometimes you have to do things you don't want to.
At the end of class, I gave the students about fifteen minutes to write down some thoughts about Michelangelo's life. Some of them even offered some advice.
Here's what they came up with:
1. "If I could change one thing about [Michelangelo's] work, it would be the naked statues part."
2. "I learned from his life that you shouldn't break into morgues and check out dead bodies."
3. "If I were Michelangelo, would have put clothes on David's waist."
4. "I would have changed my skills from sculpting to painting, 'cause everyone LOVES paintings."
5. "One thing I learned was not to mess with guys bigger than you so that you do not get your nose broke."
6. "What I learned from Michelangelo's life is that it is alright to be confident in yourself... but not TOO confident."
7. "I would be most proud of the Sixteen Chapel."
8. "If you don't want a broken nose, then encourage others even if their artwork looks terrible."
9. "If you wanted to know something during Michelangelo's time..you had to find out the hard way...you couldn't just look it up on Google."
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