Junior Docent School Program - Milwaukee Art Museum

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“What happened during that time is that the Greeks and then the Romans
invaded Egypt and many remained there and married Egyptians. This piece
represents the blending of these cultures -Greek/Roman portraiture and Egyptian
burial practices.” (Use the visual showing a complete mummy with the portion
where the face would be covered by a portrait).
“How was the portrait made?” (painted on wood)
“What material was used?” (encaustic - pigment mixed with beeswax)
“Does this woman look real?”
Similarities: all representations of burial practices; all preserved underground; emphasis on
preparing for afterlife
Differences: materials used; method of decoration; people represented differently
Renaissance
“We just jumped forward in time almost a thousand years! Many things have changed.
There has been a shift is human‟s view of him/herself in the world. While the afterlife is
still important, life on earth is important, too. This was a time of great exploration and
discovery. Think about Christopher Columbus and all the other explorers. There was
great interest in discovering how things work, from the planets in the skies to how to
keep time.” (Look at all the clocks in the Renaissance Treasury.) (Talk about how
painters and sculptors were again presenting the human form - going back to the
Classical period.)
Madonna and Child, di Cione
Madonna of the Candelabra, after Rossillino
Compare these two paintings as examples of how human‟s view had changed. In the
first, the Madonna is portrayed as the Queen of Heaven. In the second, she is portrayed
as an earthly mother.
Christ & the Two Pilgrims on Way to Emmaus, van Amstel
Use this painting to show how artists learned about perspective.
Realism/Naturalism
Two Bulls, Isidore Bonheur
Two Goats, Rosa Bonheur
These two works of art were done by a brother and sister. Their views on the art of
portraying animals were strongly influenced by the prevailing trends in natural history.
o “When were these pieces made?” (check text label - do mental math to see how
long ago his was)
o “Where did they live?” (France)
o “What do you think they did to make the animals look so real?” (studied them;
visited animal fairs and slaughter houses to make sketches of them in all
possible ways; Rosa would obtain animal parts and dissect them to understand
bone and muscle structure. She said, “One must know what is under their skin -
otherwise your animals will look like a mat rather than a tiger.”)
o “Look at the many details she has included in her painting of the goats. Can you
see the pattern of how the hair grows? Do their noses look wet or dry?”
o “Look at the texture of the horns - how would they feel?”
o “What other textures did she include in her painting?” (clouds, mist, rock, velvety
hair, hard horns)
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Isidore, too, watched and studied animals, making countless sketches and models
before having his pieces cast. He would study an animal, draw it in the position it took,
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JDSP – Docent Packet