History, Culture & Art Tour (middle & High School)
LAM ED.
History, Culture & Art
Grades/Level: Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12)
Subjects: Visual Arts, English-Language Arts and Social Studies
Lesson Overview: Students will look at objects/images in the Lowe Art
Museum’s permanent collection and try to begin to understand how artists from
different cultures and time periods have provided clues to their past. Students will
participate in facilitated discussions and an activity.
Learning Objectives: Students will visit the Lowe Art Museum to look at
sculpture and portraits which show cultural characteristics. They will observe art
works/objects to begin to understand how artists have provided clues, throughout
history, to give viewers a glimpse into the past. Students will look at works of art
from different time periods and cultures, created in different styles using a variety
of materials. Students will participate in both discussion-based and written
activities. (unless otherwise instructed students will participate in written activity).
Materials
 Objects/images from the Lowe Art Museum’s permanent collection
 Student packets
 Pencils
 Clipboards
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Sunshine State Core Standards 2012-Key Points in English and Language
Arts* Applicable for Grades 9 & 10(Key Sunshine State Standards and
Benchmarks on back page)
Reading: Sunshine State Core Standards establish a “staircase of increasing
complexity”. Visual Thinking Strategies aligns with these standards and the
underpinnings of VTS stress development of visual literacy through increased
‘reading’ of visual imagery.
Writing: The ability to write logical arguments based on substantive claims,
sound reasoning and relevant evidence is a cornerstone of the writing
standards. Visual Thinking Strategies develops critical thinking skills and
metacognition. Students are required to support their comments with visual
evidence.
Speaking and Listening: The standards require that students gain, evaluate
and present increasingly complex information, ideas and evidence through
listening and speaking. An important focus of the speaking and listening
standards is academic discussion in a one-on-one, small group, and whole
class settings. Formal presentations are one important way such talk occurs, but
so is the more informal discussion that takes place as students collaborate to
answer questions, build understanding and solve problems. Visual Thinking
Language: The standards expect that students will grow their vocabularies
through a mix of conversations, direct instruction and reading. The standards will
help students determine word meanings, appreciate the nuance of words and
steadily expand their repertoire of words and phrases. Vocabulary use extends
across reading, writing, speaking and listening. One of the benefits of repeated
VTS intervention is communication skill building; oral and listening skills are
a focus through paraphrasing and giving students the opportunity to listen
to their peers.
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Activity A (60 minutes): Antiquities, African, Asian, Oceanic, Kress, Glass
English Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature, Grade 9-10
Key Ideas and Details
RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.9-10.2 Determine the theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped
by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL-9-10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.gl, those with multiple or
conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other
characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Craft and Structure
RL 9-10.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the
txt, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on the meaning and tone (e.gl, how the language
evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets formal or informal tone).
RL 9-10.5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text
order events within it (e.g., parallel plots) and manipulate time (e.g., pacing,
flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension or surprise.
RL.9-10.6. Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a
work of literature from outside the Unites States, drawing on a wide reading of
world literature.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RL.9-10.7. Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different
artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g.,
“Musee des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
RL 9-10.8 (Not applicable to literature)
RL 9-10.9 Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a
specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the
Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).
(http://www.fldoe.org/bii/curriculum/sss/
http://www.fldoe.org/bii/curriculum/sss/.Source
accessed 7/12)
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History, Culture & Art Tour (middle & High School)
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Lesson (in museum)
History, Culture & Art
Lesson Plan:
Activity A (60 minutes): Students will look at four (4) objects/images in the
Lowe Art Museum’s permanent collection. They will participate in a facilitated
discussion.
Overarching Essential Question: What can we learn about a culture by
looking at art?
Activity B (45 minutes): Students will participate in a written and oral activity.
They will look at one object/image to determine the ‘material culture’ of that
object. (Material Culture = material culture can be considered to be the totality of
artifacts in a culture, the vast universe of objects used by humankind to cope with
the physical world, to facilitate social intercourse, to delight our fancy, and to
create symbols of meaning....Leland Ferguson argues that material culture
includes all "the things that people leave behind....all of the things people make
from the physical world--farm tools, ceramics, houses, furniture, toys, buttons,
roads, cities." (http://academic.reed.edu/english/courses/english341nn/mc/. Accessed: 10/12)
Activity C (Classroom Activity): Students will be given an assignment to take
back to the classroom (see lesson).
Assessment:
 Students will be assessed on their participation in the object/image
discussions
 Students will be assessed on their ability to present cogent evidence for
material culture on their object/image
 Students will be assessed on their classroom activity and their research
and sourcing of their information (teachers should specify style of
citations)
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Lessons
Activity A (facilitated discussions, lasting 60 minutes,
with objects/images from the Lowe’s permanent
collection)
Activity B (student directed activity in museum, lasting
45-60 minutes)
Object-Based Learning: Africa, Asian,
Ancient American, Greek, Roman and
Byzantine
The History of an Object : An
exercise in looking, reading, writing &
reporting
Object-Based Learning:
Objects, man-made or natural, extraordinary artifacts
or ordinary “stuff”, hold and record knowledge
Object-based learning:
 Uses objects to make sense of the world
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 Uses objects to demonstrate or represent an
abstract concept
 Uses objects to demonstrate connections
between ideas
Points of View: Art from the
Permanent Collection:
 None of the objects in this exhibition were
intended to be viewed as art by their creator(s)
 All of the objects, examples of material culture,
can tell us something about individuals, a group
of people, a place, a time period, daily life, or
special events
Object-Based Learning Looking &
Thinking
You already have some tools for looking at objects,
the Visual Thinking Strategies* questions:
•What’s going on here?
•What do you see that makes you say that?
•What more can you find?
These questions may be useful as you explore and
investigate unfamiliar objects
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*Questions are a product of Visual Understanding in Education.
Navigating the Museum
Object labels* carry specific information** about each
object.
•Artist name or cultural group origin
•Artist’s birth country, or location of cultural group
•Life dates of artist
•Material(s) used to make the object
•Size of the object
•How the museum acquired the work
•Accession number: A unique number assigned to a
work of art when it is acquired by the museum.
Accession numbers allow staff to identify and
inventory objects in the collection. At the Lowe, the
first number is the year in which the object was
acquired by the museum. For example 91.0294, was
acquired in 1991.
**There is some information taken from the internet
and books and sourced by the author
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Object-Based Learning Looking &
Thinking
•What can you learn from looking at an object?
•What cannot be learned about an object from
looking?
African Objects:
Egypt, Ptolemaic period, 305-30 BCE
Cat Mummy, 3rd century BCE (Before Common Era), Cat skeleton & Cotton
The cat was associated with the goddess Bostet. Although the exact reason for
their mummification and buriel is not known, it is believed that cats were bred and
raised in temples, specifically to provide votive offerings (Source: Lowe Art
Museum tombstone. 9/12)
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Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, 304-30 BCE ,Portrait head mummy mask ,Ca. 1st
century BCE (Before Common Era) ,Cartonnage, paint and gilt (Source: Lowe Art
Museum tombstone. 9/12)
Ancient American Object:
Inca. North Coast (Peru), A.D. 1470-1532
The base of this ceremonial headdress is a skullcap made of llama wool, with
about four pounds of human hair attached. The hair is woven into 160 braids
that hang in two tiers. The longest measuring over a yard in length. In ancient
times it was worn only by a high priest during religious services.(Before Discovery:
Artistic Development in the Americas Before the Arrival of Columbus. University of Miami. 1990.
p. 138 Accessed 10/12)
The significance of the hair, which is believed to have a vital link with the life
force, dates back to at lest the Moche Period (A.D. 1-700). Among the Inca a
child was not named until after an elaborate ceremony involving hair-cutting. In
Peru modern shamans continue to make use of fair in their curing
ceremonies.(Introduction to Peruvian Costume by Nathalie H. Zimman, Assistant Curator New
World and Primitive Cultures. The Brooklyn Museum. C. 1949. Accessed 10/12)
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Burial wigs
Styles of hairdressing varied according to region just as did hats and headbands.
Some indication of the coiffures remains in burial wigs made of human hair or
wool which were often placed on mummies. One type consists of a knotted cap
to which are attached innumerable hair braids, a fashion among some type of
Aymara men and women. .(Introduction to Peruvian Costume by Nathalie H. Zimman,
Assistant Curator New World and Primitive Cultures. The Brooklyn Museum. C. 1949. Accessed
10/12)
It was to the fishgods that the Chimus made sacrifices, and the human-hair
headdress played an important part in the religious ceremonies. It was worn only
by a high Chimu priest during religious services. There are only a few known
places in the world where cloth and hair could be so perfectly preserved. One is
in the American southwest. One is in Egypt. Another is on the northern coast of
Peru, where preservation is assured by the saline condition of the soil. And the
fact that it seldom or never rains there.
Among many ancient races, hair was regarded as the seat of life. The very
power and strength of a man was thought to reside there.( A Pageant of Hats, Ancient
and Modern by Ruth Edwards Kilgour. The Chimus believed this. Chimu Ceremonial Headdress
of Human Hair.c. 1958. P.33. Accessed 10/12)
Roman & Greek Objects:
(label information)
The busts of the Hadrianic period are identified by a full head of curly hair and the presence of a
beard.. The Antonines always modeled their portraits after Hadrian, and emphasized
resemblances to him by having themselves portrayed as philosophical, bearded adults. Antonine
rule commenced with the reign of Antoninus Pius, relatively peaceful and benevolent. (Source:
http://ldmart315.edublogs.org/2011/11/29/antonines-to-severans-themes-and-styles/. Accessed:
8/12.
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•Blocklike, (stereometric, def= measurement of a solid object), projection of the head is
characteristic of Antonius representations.
•Cubic structure conveys a sense of force and power.
•Combination of firm and quiet expression was characteristic demeanor of Antonius Pius’ reign
during the Roman Empire.
•Irises were scored and pupils drilled in the eyes. (Source: Antoninus Pius." Encyclopædia
Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9007909>
[Accessed November 15, 2005].
(include label information)
Calyx Krater [Mixing Bowl], 4th century BCE
•pottery and paint, 14.125 h. x 12.5” dia.,
•Dionysus had a religious festival dedicated to him every spring that coincided with the renewal
•of grape leaf growth and occasioned the writing and performance of many of the world’s greatest
Greek plays, appropriate to his status as patron god of the Greek stage. The Olympic deity was
also a key figure in ancient mystery religion worship, characterized by ecstatic behavior through
spiritual intoxication, thought to enable transcendence of one’s earthly condition. In the animated
scene on the front of the Lowe’s kalyx, which is probably not particular to any myth, but rather a
generic Dionysian scene, the god rides a rearing panther, his favored mount. He is surrounded by
an entourage of satyrs, lascivious creatures that are part man, part horse, and maenads, female
followers of the god. All are led by flying Eros, the god of love and son of Aphrodite. The use of
white on the maenads and panther helps enliven the painting.
•This particular type of krater takes its name from its low handles and shape, which spreads
•out like the calyx of a flower (the group of leaves under a flower’s petals, just above the stem).
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Byzantine:
(include label information)
Triptych most likely painted for a church: panels depict St. Dominic, of Siena, Gothic frame, and
gold leaf (no electricity so candles would have lit up the triptych).
•“painting represents the ‘static monumentality’ in which saints and holy personnages remain
above the level of daily life. Personification of the perfections to which ordinary people then
worshipfully aspired. Beginning of portraiture with the figures becoming more solid and
developing roundness.’ (Source: Kress Collection file Plate 3.accessed: 9/12)
•Madonna and Child – halo translation “Virgin Untouched”
•Donors – Ludwig I, the Great and wife, Queen Elizabeth or Ludwig’s mother, Queen Elizabeth of
Hungary and her son Andreas
•Saint Dominic—Halo translation The Blessed Dominic Founder (1215) of the order of monks
(Preaching Friars) and of nuns (1206). Black and white is habit of his order.
•Lily – symbolic of purity (see below)
•Loaf of bread – divine intervention once brought food to Dominican friars)
•Saint Elizabeth of Hungary –Halo translation Daughter of King. She is symbolic of ideal
Christian woman of charity and piety. Fleur de Lis on dress denotes patron family –Anjou
dynasty.
•Apron of Roses symbolizes the food she carried to the poor. A miracle is said to have turned
the food to roses as she was walking in the garden. She became a Franciscun nun after her
husband’s death.
•Historical period - 14th century (1343)
•School of Painting is Italian/Siennese
•Style is Illusionism
Saint Dominic—Halo translation The Blessed Dominic Founder (1215) of the order of monks
(Preaching Friars) and of nuns (1206). Black and white is habit of his order.
•Lily – symbolic of purity (see below)
•Loaf of bread – divine intervention once brought food to Dominican friars)
•Saint Elizabeth of Hungary –Halo translation Daughter of King. She is symbolic of ideal
Christian woman of charity and piety. Fleur de Lis on dress denotes patron family –Anjou
dynasty.
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•Apron of Roses symbolizes the food she carried to the poor. A miracle is said to have turned
the food to roses as she was walking in the garden. She became a Franciscun nun after her
husband’s death.
•Historical period - 14th century (1343)
•School of Painting is Italian/Sienese
•Style is Illusionism
•Ground is of wood
•Media heavily embossed with gold leaf
•Image includes fourteenth-century members of the Angevin family, Queen Elizabeth of Hungary
and her son, Prince Andreas (who wears a cloak decorated with Fleurs-di-Lis, the armorial
emblem of the kings of France).
•Their diminutive size and position in relation to the Madonna and Child was customary for
representation of donors in Italian Medieval painting.
•The Queen’s patron saint, Elizabeth, appears on the right-hand wing of the altarpiece.
•Saint Dominic may have been included because the altarpiece was painted for the Dominican
foundation.
(information accessed 9/12, from the Lowe Art Museum’s Kress collection file)
Asian Objects:
Tianlu, Early 8th century, China, Tang Dynasty
Bixie, Early 8th century China Tang Dynasty
The two-horned Bixie was usually paired with
the single-horned Tianlu in tomb burials. The
Tianlu was assigned the role of guarding the
grave from intruders. It appears the Bixie and
Tianlu derived their purpose from another tomb
guardian, the Qitou, whose job it was to prevent
the spirits from wandering from the tomb. The
Tianlu, Bixie and Qitou have been generally
referred to as Chimera, or tomb guardians in the West.
(information taken from Lowe Art Museum label. Accessed 9/12)
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Object-Based Learning Looking &
Thinking: Learning from looking &
reading
 What can you learn from looking? (fill out spoke)
Consider:
o Materials
o Decoration
o Symbols
o Function
o Size
o Construction
o Texture
 What can you learn from reading? Is there
information you could not access by looking? (go
back and read label) Look for:
o People who made object
o Year it was made
o Use or function
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Object-Based Learning Big Ideas: What
to think about when researching object
A big idea is a theme* or issue that helps frame
meanings of objects
Big Idea: Ritual & Ceremony. Objects used in rituals and
ceremonies
Big Idea: Environment. What kinds of materials were used
to make this object? Can you determine what kind of
environment?
Big Idea: Government. What kind of government was in
place at the time the object was created?
Big Idea: Culture. What kind of music, art, dance, food were
people who used this object enjoying?
*These are a few suggestions. This list is not exhaustive.
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Back in the Classroom:
Researching Object:
 Choose topic
 Source material
 Report
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Object-Based Education
Created by Hope Torrents, School Programs
Coordinator, Lowe Art Museum
University of Miami for the Museums Magnet
Program,
Shenandoah Middle School
Date: September, 2012
Audience: 6th – 8th grade Language Arts students
and faculty; 6th –
8th grade Social Studies students and faculty
Unit: VTS curriculum
Status: Final Draft for Publication
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. May not be
reproduced in any format without written permission
from the Lowe Art Museum.
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