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Patriots Day
ART
Art is a recording that opens a window into time.
Though extensive written records and period objects are the source of much that we know about the Revolutionary period, paintings and drawings from that time have given us sight. Without the works of talented artists, we would not know what Washington, Franklin, or any other important men and women of Revolutionary America looked like.
John Singleton Copley
Charles Willson Peale
Benjamin West
Gilbert Stuart
John Singleton Copley
Charles Willson Peale
Benjamin West
Gilbert Stuart
Colonial Artists and their Subjects
If you look carefully and know how to interpret the art, you can learn a great deal more than just what the subject of the painting looked like. The video Colonial Artists and their Subjects presents the lives, works, and subjects of four leading 18th Century American Artists.
The artists span the entire period, illuminating people and issues like nothing else can. Students learn how to read the symbolism and messages within the portraits and become skilled, avid painting detectives.
Lesson: John Singleton Copley’s Portrait of Paul Revere
Having learned about Lexington and Concord, students are aware of the danger Revere faced, and they are eager to see what he looked like. Dissecting Copley’s extraordinary painting of him, they discover the political message the painting conveys. Finally, they are invited to look into his eyes and imagine what he looked like as he raced through the dark countryside, rousing people from sleep with his urgent call to arms.
An excerpt from the “Colonial Artists and their Subjects” video featuring John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Paul Revere.
Lesson: Creating 18th Century Self-Portraits
After learning about symbolism in 18th Century portraits, students paint self-portraits, using 18th century techniques to inform the viewer about themselves as children in Revolutionary America.
