Implementation of “Rembrandt: A digital exploration of the great master’s work, 350 years after his death” (SOI-HR-396)
Author: Nataša Tram, Art teacher
School/Organization: I. gimnazija Osijek
I chose this learning scenario for a deeper understanding of the artist’s work. In order for the students to become familiar with the artistic oeuvre of the artist, I offered them several big names from different periods. Most of the students were interested in Rembrandt, and I chose this LS to implement in the Art class.
The learning scenario was carried out during Art classes lasting 90 minutes. Students at the age of 18 were included. I shortened some parts of the script due to lack of time. The author planned a longer time for the implementation of the topic. I reshaped and expanded certain activities using ICT. I created exercises in Genially and Learning Apps tools. The fact that my students often use Europeana resources in Art classes made it easier to implement the scenario
Quotes from the book
Our story begins with an introduction to the work of the Dutch Baroque artist Rembrandt van Rijn. The students were given excerpts from Joannis Van Loon’s book, My Friend Rembrandt. In pairs, they read selected quotes from the book that I prepared for them, finding similarities between the written text and the artist’s works. I directed students to research Rembrandt’s paintings from Europeana resources. Then I showed them several pictures to which the students have added the selected quotes.
Students connect the pictures with the text
Diversity of themes of works of art
They classified the themes of Rembrandt’s work by placing the image in the appropriate place in a table in the digital tool Genially https://view.genial.ly/64079f4b24b69b00184fd598/presentation-rembrandt
Chronology of life
During this activity, students were divided into groups. In chronological order they arranged the pictures showing Rembrandt’s self-portraits from early youth to old age in the Learning Apps digital tool https://learningapps.org/watch?v=psdbs4vmn23 They then imagined short stories about Rembrandt’s life based on the expressions of his portraits. The students immersed
themselves in the very imaginative stories of how the artist portrays himself. On the National Gallery page, they got to know Rembrandt’s biography.
The student solves the exercise
Master of light and shadow
Students carefully observed Rembrandt’s painting The Night Watch for some time. They explored a given example from Europeana and analyzed the artistic elements. In their groups, they discussed how the way of painting reflects the artist’s idea and the context of the time in which it was created.
Students analyze Rembrandt’s work
A different selfie
Students took on the role of an artist and took selfies inspired by Rembrandt’s work of their own choice. They made the way Rembrandt saw them and placed them in a shared virtual classroom. Each student evaluated the success of “disappearing in the dark” by giving a thumbs up/down.
Student selfie inspired by Rembrandt
Learning outcomes
The students got acquainted with the artistic creativity of Rembrandt and the creation of individual works different techniques. They pointed out that this kind of selfie was fun for them because they could play with light and dark. Chiaroscuro contributed to the emotions that Rembrandt caused among the students.
The completed task caused a feeling of satisfaction in the students. It was interesting for them to see how Rembrandt saw himself at that time, following him from early youth to old age.They experienced the works of art of the same theme, which were created using different techniques, differently.
Outcomes for the educator
I could find an extension of the activity about some other artists in the Teaching with Europeana Resources. If you want to explore Rembrandt’s works yourself, Europeana has a large body of work that can fit into different themes. The modern approach to teaching is welcome and it is interesting to see how the works have been transformed. This was an ideal opportunity to turn the use of mobile phones to my advantage.
Europeana’s resources can be applied to creating selfies inspired by other artists
https://www.europeana.eu/hr/search?page=1&view=grid&query=albrecht%20durer
https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/frida-kahlo-identity-in-art
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? ‘Rembrandt: A digital exploration of the great master’s work, 350 years after his death’ (EN-CUR-164) created by Panagiotis Fatseas
Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:
- What if I were Monet? (LS-PL-293) implemented by Katarzyna Kwiatek-Grabarska
- Slava Raskaj – Life and work of a famous Croatian Artist (EN-CUR-526) implemented by Božica Krpes-Pregun
- VanGo(gh) Your Class (LS-PL-338) implemented by Katarzyna Siwczak
Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.
Public Domain Mark 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Rijksmuseum.