Art is nature

Nature at the museum

EXPERIENCE FOR: KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS
SUBJECTS: ART APPRECIATION, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, SCIENCE

This type of theme area sets out to illustrate the role of plants in art while encouraging school children to actively observe the natural elements characterizing the Tuscan landscape. Starting from art it is possible, in fact, to understand that plants have always played a fundamental role in the history of mankind; that we can recognize trees, flowers, fruits and learn about the typical naturalistic features of a territory like ours.
The experience starts from an observation of natural elements in Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes. Once the different plant varieties have been identified, the children are divided into small groups and invited to compose their natural landscape using the torn paper technique.

Length: 2 hours in collaboration with the Auser Verde Association
Price: 2,00 € per participant for museum entrance, laboratory and materials

PLEASE NOTE! This workshop may be combined with an excursion to Parco Urbano of Castelfiorentino, where the children are invited to spot and identify the natural species seen at the museum. Each child will be given a nature study notebook in which to jot down and classify the different plant species, just like a botanist.

Nature in the Renaissance period

EXPERIENCE FOR: SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOLS
SUBJECTS: ART APPRECIATION, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, SCIENCE

Starting from the observation of Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes we discover how the representation of nature has changed in the world of art, from frame and decorative element to a background for narrative scenes and, finally, a painting genre in its own right. An interesting excursus on the role of landscape in art history, from being a marginal element in Early Christian art to a scientific observation during the Renaissance. Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes, the detailed representation of nature and its role in the narrations of the tabernacles he painted constitute the central element for a novel interpretation of art history.

Length: 2 hours
Price: 2,00 € per participant for museum entrance, laboratory and materials

PLEASE NOTE: This laboratory may be combined with an excursion to Parco della Pieve, where students may experience painting from nature out of doors.