Italian Renaissance · 1495-1520

Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael

Three artists, three cities, one generation. Students follow Leonardo to Milan and France, Michelangelo to Florence and Rome, and Raphael into the Vatican, and discuss who paid for this art and why.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1500 to AD 1519
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Three artists, three cities, one generation. Students follow Leonardo to Milan and France, Michelangelo to Florence and Rome, and Raphael into the Vatican, and discuss who paid for this art and why.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Name one famous work by Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael and the city where it was made.
  • Explain the role of patrons such as popes, dukes and kings in Renaissance art.
  • Describe one new technique Renaissance artists used, such as linear perspective.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1500

An Italy of patrons

Open the map in 1500 and zoom in on Italy. Find Milan, Florence and Rome. Which of these cities is ruled by the pope?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1505

Art on the timeline

Turn on Historical Events and choose Cultural Milestones. Move the slider from 1495 to 1515. Which artworks appear, and in which cities?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1519

Leonardo goes to France

Zoom out to see France and Italy in 1519. Leonardo died that year at Amboise on the Loire. Trace his journey from Milan over the Alps. Why might a French king want an Italian artist?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Who paid for most Renaissance art, and what did they want in return?
  2. Michelangelo saw himself mainly as a sculptor, yet he spent four years painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Why would he accept the job?
  3. Leonardo filled notebooks with designs for machines that were never built. Was he an artist, a scientist or both?
  4. The new St Peter's in Rome was partly paid for by selling indulgences. Why did that become a problem for the Church?
  5. Why do you think so much famous art came from such a small part of Europe in only a few decades?
4

Game round

10 min

Play a round of Rule History as Moctezuma II, who ruled Tenochtitlan, one of the largest cities in the world, in the same years Michelangelo painted in Rome. Discuss: how did rulers on both sides of the Atlantic use art and buildings to show their power?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.