The Grand Tour

I’ve devoted several posts to transportation. So, now I will devote a couple of posts to places one might travel in said vehicles.

Possible Classroom Concepts: Social Studies – European History, Geography, Communities

Language Arts – Writing

Possible Art Concepts: Art History – Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal), Giovanni Paolo Panini

View Painters, Moving Human Figure

 Canaletto’s “Bucentaur’s Return to the Pier by the Palazzo Ducale”

Our first journey will be back in time. In the 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy young men travelled to the major cities of Europe to complete the final portion of their formal education. This journey was called The Grand Tour. Venice and Rome were two of the cities these young men visited. Find these two cities on this interactive map:

http://mrnussbaum.com/world-nations/italy/

As souvenirs to remember this exciting time in their lives, many of  these young men purchased art like the painting pictured above. Read more about Canaletto, Panini, and The Grand Tour here:

Click to access AnEyeforArt-Canaletto.pdf

and here ( This is more of a reference for you.I definitely wouldn’t share the last two sentences with the students.):

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/the-grand-tour

Other examples of Canaletto’s work can be found at the following sites:

http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/102908.html

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.32589.html

So, students could create a postcard in a community theme or places they travelled over the summer (a GREAT beginning of the school year project). Students could include themselves with family or friends like in view paintings. Find a postcard template here:

Click to access postcard_template.pdf

Find a moving people worksheet here:

http://nocornersuns.blogspot.com/2014/01/practice-page-children-in-motion-good.html