4th Grade Visual Art Training “Days of Knights ”

4th Grade Visual Art Training“Days of Knights” Philadelphia Museum of Art

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely. Broad, wholesome, charitable views can not be acquired by vegetating in one’s little corner of earth.” - Mark Twain From Innocents Abroad, 1869

Three Visual Art Trainings in 2009-2010 • October 28th • 4th Grade Level PLC with Kelly Galyeon • February 24th • ARTSY Training with Nancy Powell or Sandy Goad • January 12th • Video-Conference: Philadelphia Art Museum: Days of Knights with Tyson Ledgerwood

School Wide Art Show 2009-2010 • The winners of the individual school art shows will be framed and displayed downtown atthe Center for the Arts May 1.

“The word art, derived from an ancient Indo-European root that means “to fit together,” suggests as much. Art is about fitting things together: words, images, objects, processes, thought, historical epochs.” - Jeffrey J. Schnapp Director of Stanford Humanities Lab Stanford University

Hour #1

“Hands On” Classroom Lesson #1“Coat of Arms” • Cut out the stencil. • Trace a border around the edge with pencil. • Use your ruler and divide the shape up four ways. • Draw a symbol in the middle. • Draw four different things that represent your family in each section. • Use crayon to cover one corner. • Use color pencil to cover another corner. • Use marker to cover another corner. • Use oil pastel to cover the last corner.

Hour #2

Video-Conference • Virtual Classroom Lesson • Questions and Answers from Presenter • Sign-up for Video-Conference in your classroom.

Hour #3

“Hands On” Classroom Lesson #2“Castle Sculpture” • Look at the castle picture. • Think about what kind of walls it has: round or straight? • Warm up this clay. • Make the outside frame. • Add details like bricks, towers, windows, draw bridge, and flags. • Add details on your base like motes, roads, bridges, rocks and dragons. Be creative.

Resource Information • The Philadelphia Art Museum website has a printable information on the website that includes many pages of activities. • The website link is: http://www.philamuseum.org/ Horse Armor of Duke Ulrich of Württemberg, for use in the field Made by the armorer Wilhelm von Worms the Elder, German

What a 4th Grader Needs to Know about the Middle Ages Kneeling Knight in Prayer Artist/maker unknown, German

Dark or Middle? • What did it mean that the Germanic warriors became the new rulers of the city of Rome and its lands in the Western Europe? • It meant great changes • in the names of the people in power • in the way everyone lived from day to day Ceremonial Halberd Artist/maker unknown, Austrian

Dark or Middle? • Let’s think about what makes up a civilization: • planned cities • a money system • a smoothly working government • roads on which people can travel and trade • laws to make people safe • a writing system to communicate and to preserve knowledge • For hundred of years after Rome fell all these things we think of as making up civilization could not continue to develop easily because of: • wars • unpredictable changes in rulers Candlestick with Figure of Saint Christopher Carrying the Infant Christ Artist/maker unknown, German or Flemish

Dark or Middle? • The Germanic tribes entered Roman lands seeking a better life for themselves. • Although they didn’t intend it, they were also • endangering some of the achievements of Roman civilization • helping to bring on a period of hard times Pair of Doors with the Annunciation [top]; Saints Peter and Paul [middle]; Instruments of the Passion [bottom] Artist/maker unknown, Spanish

The three hundred years after Rome fell are sometimes called the Dark Ages to suggest that these were very difficult times in the part of the world that has been in the Western Roman Empire. During this period in Europe’s history, fertile lands, aqueducts, and cities were often abandoned. Much of the knowledge we associate with civilization was forgotten – Medicine Science Law Geography the arts Literature The “Light” of knowledge was temporarily turned off. Life was instead full of Conflict Change Struggle Dark or Middle? Basin with an Unidentified Coat of Arms Artist/maker unknown, German

Dark or Middle? • Today, in looking back over history, we sometimes don’t speak of the Dark Ages. • Not all parts of the world were experiencing the troubles and setbacks of the western Roman Empire. • Instead, we sometimes refer to the roughly one thousand years after the decline of Rome, from about AD 450 to 1400, as the Middle Ages. Sallet Artist/maker unknown, Italian

Keeping Learning Alive • Meanwhile, throughout Europe there arose places called monasteries, where men called monks lived very simple lives devoted to work, study and worship. • These monks kept knowledge alive during some dark and difficult years. • They made beautiful copies of important ancient books. • In so doing, they preserved many of the “classical” writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. • The monasteries became places that poor and sick people could go when they needed help. • The monks also worked hard to spread the Christian religion. Seal Box Artist/maker unknown, Belgian or French

Keeping Learning Alive • The monasteries became places that poor and sick people could go when they needed help. • The monks also worked hard to spread the Christian religion. Prophet Daniel Ugolino di Nerio, Italian

Charles the Great • Around AD 800, there arose a new, strong Christian ruler, Charles the Great, known to his people as Charlemagne. Verdure Tapestry with Giant Leaves Artist/maker unknown, Flemish

Charles the Great • Why is someone in history called “great”? • Because he or she was an especially good or brilliant person? • Because he or she made an important chance that affected many people, whether in a good or bad way? • Charlemagne was great from both reasons. Tapestry with a scene of Hercules Shouldering the Heavens for the Giant Atlas Artist/maker unknown, Flemish

Charles the Great • Charlemagne came from a family of powerful rulers of the Franks, one of the strongest of the Germanic peoples. • Charlemagne fought and won many wars. • He defeated Germanic tribes as far east as the Elbe River. Horse of San Marco Artist/maker unknown, Italian

Charles the Great • Charlemagne conquered so many lands that much of the Western Europe was reunited under a single ruler for the first time since the fall of Rome. • To the pope at the time, it seemed as if the old Roman Empire was being restored. • On Christmas Day in the year 800, the pope crowned Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor. Inkwell in the Form of a Dragon with a Coat of Arms Artist/maker unknown, Italian

Charlemagne and the Spread of Learning • Charlemagne was not just a warrior. • He believed in education • He could read Latin • This was very unusual for anyone who didn’t live in a monastery. • Even the Frankish priests who lived among the people often didn’t know the meaning of the Latin words they spoke in church services. French Gothic Chapel, Composite Double Window, and Composite Triple Window Made in Rouen, France

Charlemagne and the Spread of Learning • Charlemagne started a school in his palace at Aachen, also called Aix-la-Chapelle. • He gathered scholars from many nations. • There were no printing presses at the time, so books had to be written by hand. • Like the monks, these scholars made copies in Latin of works like the Bible, and helped preserve classical learning. Panel with fragments of Gothic Letters Artist/maker unknown, English

Charlemagne and the Spread of Learning • Charlemagne himself studied in the palace school. • He learned to understand Greek. • Like you, he studied mathematics. • But unlike you, he began learning to write so late in life that he made little progress, although he kept a notebook under his bed pillow so he could practice. Footed Dish with the Name Diana Artist/maker unknown, Italian

The Holy Roman Empire • Before Charlemagne, the Western Roman Empire had been broken apart by the invasions of many Germanic tribes. • But during Charlemagne's reign, it appeared that the Western Roman Empire was going to be • Different • Even greater than before • It would combine • The old Roman traditions • Some Germanic customs • The practices of the Roman Catholic church • It would be a Holy Roman Empire, uniting many peoples in many lands. Dormer Window Frame (installed here as a doorway) with a Central Figure of Lucretia, from the Château of Montal Artist/maker unknown, French

The idea of a united Holy Roman Empire was a powerful one that lived on for a thousand years. But in reality, Charlemagne's empire began to break up less than thirty years after he died in AD 814. In fact as a famous French thinker said later, the Holy Roman Empire really wasn’t very “Roman” “Holy” Much of an “empire” It wasn’t Roman, because it contained a large number of small kingdoms with Germanic rulers in the regions now called Germany Austria Northern Italy. It wasn’t especially holy, because the emperors argued constantly with the popes and often fought openly with them. And it wasn’t very much of a empire, because the small kingdoms didn’t always obey the emperor. The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire • Year after year, the popes and emperors argued and sometimes battled for power. • The Catholic church was the most powerful institution in Europe. It had: • Laws • Buildings • Land • Thousands of clergy (church officials) • The Germanic rulers had nothing to match it. • They kept trying to take some of the popes’ power so they could have more control in their own lands. Doorway Artist/maker unknown, French

The Holy Roman Empire • One of the reasons for the church’s great strength was that after Charlemagne’s death, his empire • broke into sections • fought against each other • The Empire was also attacked by new invaders, including • Muslims from the south. • Vikings from the north. • While the empire grew weak, Christianity grew strong. • The church Christians supported grew and grew. Close Helmet for use in the field Artist/maker unknown, German

Feudalism • In the Middle Ages in Europe, a way of life known as feudalism developed in response to the needs of the times. • Some people needed to support themselves and their families. • They also needed protection from thieves or invading warriors. • Other people needed • workers for their lands • soldiers for their armies • This was a system that developed to exchange protection for loyalty and labor. • This system was common in the time in which feudalism began. Boss Artist/maker unknown, English

Feudalism • Let your imagination carry you back. • The time is over a thousand years ago, in a village near a river in the region we now call France. • One day you hear news that a village not far up the river has been burned and looted by Viking warriors. • It seems as though you hear about a new attack every day, • sometimes by warriors from other lands • sometimes by armies from nearby regions Boss Artist/maker unknown, English

Feudalism • You and the other villages know that you need some way to protect yourselves. • So you ask a person who has riches and armies to help defend your village. • This person called a lord promises to protect you if you promise to serve him loyally in return. • If you promise loyalty to the lord, you became his vassal, meaning “one who serves.” Panel with Coat of Arms Artist/maker unknown, English

Feudalism • You might serve the lord in different ways. • You might be put in charge of some of his farmlands. • If you’re the son of a nobleman, you might train to become a knight – a warrior on horseback. • Then it will be your duty to fight for your lord when necessary. • Young women can work in the fields or in the castle, but they cannot become knights. • In general, girls and women have few rights or privileges in the Middle Ages. Panel with Figure of a Saint Artist/maker unknown, English

Feudalism • By letting his vassals use his land, the lord gains their services and loyalty in exchange. • Imagine that you are lucky enough to be put in change of a good sized piece of lands. • Farmers work for you, growing food on the land. • You become used to having the comforts of more wealth and food than you would have before you pledged your loyalty to the lord. • To keep the land, you must remain loyal to your lord. Panel Artist/maker unknown, English

Feudalism • The next time invaders come, the lord leads his army against them. • You must be part of that army and fight to defend your lord's lands and family, as well as your own. • You might also fight the vassals of the lords if your lord tells you to. Close Helmet Artist/maker unknown, Northern Italian

Feudalism • The church tells you not to fight unarmed men on Sundays and other holy days, and not to hurt women and children. • But the church also takes part in the feudal system: the church: • owns much of the land, so bishops are lords as well • has many vassals loyal to them Relief with the Coat of Arms of Constable Anne de Montmorency Artist/maker unknown, French

The Ladder of Society • In a feudal society, many people serve many others. • Many farmers may serve you by working on the land you oversee. • But you in turn serve your lord as his vassal. • And your lord is a vassal to an even greater lord. • Your lord serves the king. Peaked Morion Artist/maker unknown, Italian

The Ladder of Society • You can think of feudal society as a kind of ladder. • The people in the lower steps of the ladder serve the people above them. • People in the Middle Ages were very aware of their position of this imaginary ladder and of who was below or above them. • And they didn't believe you could move up the ladder through hard work. • The position you were born into was where you stayed. Reliquary (Chasse) Artist/maker unknown, French

The Ladder of Society • The Middle Ages certainly didn’t hold the modern American belief, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal.” Fragment of a Tapestry showing a Courtly Couple Artist/maker unknown, Flemish

The Far-Off King • In a feudal society, people give their loyalty in a king and his kingdom. • But often this loyalty does not come from any great love for the king. • Instead, it has to do with the ownership of land. • In a way, you can think of the plot of land that you farm as being on loan from the king: he loaned it to you lord, and your lord loaned it to you. • So in return you should feel loyalty to the king, who owns the land to begin with. • But really, because the king is so far away and your lord so close, • the word of the local lord is absolute law • the faraway king seems only a vague idea, like somebody you’ve heard about in a story long ago Close Helmet, for use in the field Artist/maker unknown, German

The Far-Off King • What does it mean that you are more loyal to your local lord than to the far-off king? • It means that even though the king is supposed to be at the head of the feudal system, the real rulers of Europe in the early Middle Ages are the lords and church leaders. Zischägge Artist/maker unknown, Flemish or Italian

Back on the Farm • While the lords and bishops were running the feudal governments and the vassals were fighting battles or running the lord’s farms,what were other people doing? Close Helmet, for use in the tourney Artist/maker unknown, German

Back on the Farm • They were doing what most people have always done until very recently. • Nine out of ten of the people have always done until very recently. • Nine of the of the ten people in Europe in the Middle Ages were farmers. • Outside the church, there were no lawyers or teachers. • There were few merchants or traders. • With the Viking raiders in the north and the Muslims in the south, there was little opportunity to make contact with other parts of the world. • The people of Europe had to grow or make what they need right at home on their own manors. Bowl from a Zischägge (helmet)Trophy of war from the arsenal of the Ottoman sultans in the former church of Saint Irene, Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey Artist/maker unknown, German

The Manor • A manor was made up of the land and everything on the land held by a particular lord or clergyman. • The manor included the • Farmland • Woods • Pastures • Animal’s shed • Church • Everyone's dwelling, from the lords’ castle to the huts of the peasants. • A manor could be as big as a thousand acres. Cabasset Artist/maker unknown, Italian

The Manor • The most important building on the manor was the lord’s stronghold, the castle. • There would also be • a priest’s house • a mill • a brewery • a smithy • As a mill is a building where grain is ground into flour. • Smithy is a building where a blacksmith makes iron tools over a very hot flames. • A brewery is a building where beer is made. Anvil Artist/maker unknown, German

The Manor • There was one kind of building you would see more than any other on the manor: little one-room huts with dirt floors, no windows or water, and very little heat. • The people who lived in these huts often brought the farm animals inside to help them keep warm. • Who were these people? • They were the peasant farmers called serfs. Cooking Pot Artist/maker unknown, Flemish

Who Were the Serfs? • The serfs did most of the work that kept the manor running. • They planted and harvested crops • They milked cows • They sheared sheep • They made clothing and candles • They built shelters, and much more • For two or three days a week, the serfs had to work very hard in the lord’s fields, growing food for the lord and his household. • In return, the serfs were given strips of land on which to grow their own food and were allowed to graze their animals in the lords’ pastures. • The lord and his army would also protect the serfs in case of an attack. A Donor and His Son, with Saint Peter Bartel Bruyn the Younger, German

Who Were the Serfs? • The serfs were not exactly slaves but were much like slaves. • They traded their freedom for the lord’s protection. • Serfs could not leave the manor unless the lord said they could. • Other peasant farmers on the manor, called freedmen, also exchanged their labor and farm products for the lord’s protection. • But the freedmen could travel freely if they wanted to. Closed Burgonet Artist/maker unknown, German

4th Grade Visual Art Training “Days of Knights ”