Giotto Artist Study for Homeschoolers

Continuing with our Medieval Unit Study, today I am going to share our Giotto homeschool artist study. Giotto was apprenticed to Cimabue, yet he overtook his master in many ways, excelling in portraying a more natural and normal human form.  He was a fore-runner, if you like, away from the Byzantine art which influenced Cimabue.  Although their art and techniques and subject matter are similar I thought it might be interesting to contrast the two.

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Giotto and Medieval Art

Giotto and Medieval Art was perfect for introducing Giotto as an artist and to some of his works:

The children used this book to write a biography about the artist and the works we will be studying:

A Boy Named Giotto

We started our study by rereading this book:

This contains the well-known story of Giotto’s boy hood, drawing on the rocks with charcoal, chalk and other coloured stones.  We discussed how God gives every one a gift of some sort, and more often than not it is the thing that no matter our circumstances we feel a driven compulsion to do. 

Giotto didn’t have all the fancy colours of his compatriots, nor the posh stucco plaster on which to paint. So, he created wonderful pictures using what he had to hand.  We talked about making the most of what we had, and being thankful for that. 

Painting Rocks

I made up some ‘rocks’ from some air dry clay and allowed to dry overnight.  After reading, I gave the children a rock each and some muted coloured chalk pastels:

The children pretended they were Giotto and drew some pictures:

And the result of our final stone drawing:

Navicella {Mosaic}

Our first picture study was of a mosaic called the Navicella, which literally means ‘little ship’. In fact, we only studied a small part of it – a surviving fragment which has been restored:

The children did some research on the computer to find out how mosaics were made in the middle ages.  We had a mosaic making kit and so this time round we made our own mosaics before we did a picture copy.  I asked them to present their findings verbally to me in a mini presentation, if they wanted they could print off pictures etc and do a display board.  The children found that mosaics were traditionally bead, stone or glass pieces. These were replaced by specially made tile pieces called tesserae, which were only a couple of millimetres in size, and could be tailor-made to the artists needs. 

How to Make Tesserae at Home

The children made our own tesserae as per instructions on the box:

We made all sorts of colours, mixing black with all the bright colours they supplied in the kit:

Copying Giotto’s Mosaic Navicella

I gave each child a slab and asked them to make a simple design using pencil.  I am trying to be a bit more mindful about how we use our resources.  Often after doing activities, photos are taken and unless the children particularly want to keep something, everything goes in the bin.  The main reason for this is that we do so many activities throughout the week, it would be impossible to keep everything.  However, I had thought about how I could encourage the children, whilst doing their art projects, to keep in mind that they might make a lovely hand-made gift for someone at Christmas.  So we thought of simple emblems to mosaic, such as hearts or crosses and stuck to those.  Perhaps if varnished the mosaics might make lovely wall hangings or heat pads…

Nativity {Fresco}

Our second focus study was a picture study of Giotto’s fresco of the Nativity:

And in particular we looked at the detail of the angels:

The idea for this study came from the book ‘Mario’s Angels’  A book based specifically around this particular fresco:

Each artist study, I like to have the children copy a piece of our chosen artist’s work.  I had decided one of the activities I wanted to do was a close up of an angel in the picture.  I photocopied an enlarged area of the angels as shown above and we discussed Giotto’s colour usage to show light, shade and depth.  The goal for this piece of work was to show an understanding of this.  

Making Tempura Paint at Home

We made some tempera paint as before, crushing chalk and adding egg yolk.  This time we used our artistic pastel chalk we had done the stone drawings with.  They were in the gorgeous, muted natural tones required for the angel:

Making Our Own Frescos

The night before I prepared some plaster bases for the children to work on.  This time, however, we were going to put a thin layer of wet plaster in sections, just as they would have done in Giotto’s time.  The race was on for the children to draw and paint their angels in sections before the plaster dried. 

First we used some tracing paper to trace our chosen angel.  We redrew it on the back of the paper and so were able to make a rubbing of its outline onto the dry plaster:

We used a thick brush to brush wet plaster on and they began their painting:

We were really pleased with the results:

Comparing The Crucifixion of Cimabue and of Giotto

Lastly we did a picture comparison of the crucifixion as portrayed by Cimabue and that portrayed by Giotto.  The very similar subject matter made for an easy comparisons:

My goal for the children this year is to become familiar with a five paragraph essay.  This being the case, I set them an essay entitled: Compare and contrast a Crucifixion painting of each Cimabue and Giotto that you have studied:

I had planned for the children to prepare a piece of wood as they had done in the middle ages and produce a copy of Giotto’s crucifixion, but to be honest we were ready to move on to a completely new artist study (Giotto being that little bit too similar to Cimabue).  I’m not one to work for the sake of work so we decided to leave our study of Giotto there.

This has been a rich study for us and one we will never forget.  We are definitely ready to move onto illuminations and the Lindberg Brothers!

Even more Activities!

1. Build a Giotto Timeline

Have children create a simple illustrated timeline of Giotto’s life. Include his birth, apprenticeship with Cimabue, major works, and death. Add small sketches or symbols representing each event.

Younger children: Use pictures and dates.
Older children: Add important historical events happening during Giotto’s lifetime.

2. Medieval Artist Detective

Give the children several paintings by Giotto, Cimabue, and another medieval artist without telling them who painted each one. Have them examine the works and identify the artist based on clues such as:

• How realistic are the figures?
• Do the people have emotion?
• How much depth is shown?
• Are the figures stiff or natural?
• What colors are used?
• How much gold appears?

Finish by revealing the answers and discussing their reasoning.

3. Make a Giotto Color Palette

Giotto is wonderful for studying color because his paintings often use strong but relatively restrained colors.

Have the children examine one painting and create a Giotto-inspired color chart using paint, colored pencils, or pastels. They can give each color a medieval-sounding name, such as Madonna Blue, Fresco Green, or Terracotta Red.

Then challenge them to create a small artwork using only five or six colors.

4. Paint Like a Fresco Artist: In Sections

Turn the fresco technique into a timed challenge.

Give each child a simple drawing divided into 3–5 sections. They must work on one section at a time, completing the painting before moving to the next.

Discuss why a fresco artist couldn’t simply leave a large wall covered in wet plaster indefinitely. Have older children learn the term giornata, the Italian word associated with the amount of fresco work completed in one day’s session.

5. Giotto’s Expressions

One of Giotto’s important contributions was making figures appear more human and emotionally expressive.

Have children draw the same simple face showing:

• joy
• sadness
• fear
• surprise
• anger
• compassion

Then compare their drawings with the expressions and body language they see in Giotto’s figures.

Writing extension: “How does an artist show emotion without using words?”

6. Create a Medieval Painter’s Workshop

Turn the art lesson into a little historical role-play.

Pretend your homeschool is a medieval artist’s workshop. Give each child a role:

• master painter
• apprentice
• plaster maker
• pigment grinder
• art patron
• assistant

Give them a fictional commission—for example, “Paint a scene of the Nativity for a wealthy family.”

They must decide what materials they need, who will do each job, how long the project will take, and what the finished artwork should communicate.

7. Make Natural Pigments

Giotto worked in a world where artists had to obtain and prepare many of their own colors.

Experiment with safe household materials such as:

• turmeric
• paprika
• cocoa
• charcoal
• beetroot
• crushed berries
• soil or clay

Mix small quantities with water or an appropriate homemade binder and paint a medieval pigment chart.

Talk about how different pigments would have been difficult or expensive to obtain. This also makes a lovely connection to medieval trade and geography.

8. Design a Giotto-inspired Medieval Chapel Wall

Give children a large sheet of paper and ask them to design their own imaginary chapel wall.

It must include:

• a central religious scene
• angels or saints
• decorative borders
• repeated patterns
• a limited color palette
• a clear focal point

Before they begin, have them study how Giotto arranged figures in his larger compositions.

Challenge: Older children can sketch the design first and explain why they placed each figure where they did.

9. Giotto Picture-Study Journaling

Choose one Giotto painting and spend 10–15 quiet minutes looking at it.

Without immediately researching it, ask the children to record:

I notice…
I wonder…
The artist wants me to notice…

I think…
I feel…

Then research the painting and return to their original observations. They can mark which observations were correct and which changed after learning more.

This is a lovely way to develop observation before interpretation.

10. Become the Giotto Art Critic

Finish the study with a family “gallery.”

Display the children’s Giotto-inspired work alongside reproductions of Giotto’s paintings and, if possible, Cimabue’s.

Give each child a simple art-critic sheet:

Artwork:
Artist:
My favorite detail:
The colors I notice:
How realistic are the figures?
How does the artist show emotion?
What makes this different from Cimabue?
One thing I learned about medieval art:

Older children can give a 2–3-minute oral presentation defending their preferred artist and explaining why.

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