The Renaissance Gallery: gallery walk posters

Setting up the gallery walk

  1. Print one poster per exhibit (letter or tabloid size, color if possible) and tape them around the room at eye level, spread out.
  2. Print the Gallery Walk Viewing Guide PDF for each student.
  3. Make groups of 3–4. Start each group at a different poster.
  4. Set the lesson presenter timer for 4 minutes per poster. At the signal, groups rotate clockwise.
  5. At each poster, students find every numbered detail, read the placard, and write I see / I think / I wonder.
  6. After the walk (about 20 minutes), students open The Renaissance Gallery on devices to solve each exhibit's challenge, or discuss the "After the walk" question as a class.
Exhibit AThe Renaissance Gallery · 6.H.3–6.H.8 · 6.C.4

Florence and the Medici

City-state of bankers and patrons

the cathedral domepatron pays artist123

Look closely

  1. A rich city-state: Florence grew rich from banking and the wool and cloth trade.
  2. Patrons: The Medici used their wealth to pay artists, architects, and scholars to create new works.
  3. Trade routes: Italian city-states sat on trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Placard

Florence was a rich city-state thanks to banking and trade in wool and cloth. The most powerful family was the Medici, bankers who used their wealth to become patrons: they paid artists, architects, and scholars to create new works.

Italian city-states like Florence, Venice, and Genoa grew rich because they sat on trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, partly thanks to trade that expanded after the Crusades.

Exhibit BThe Renaissance Gallery · 6.H.3–6.H.8 · 6.C.4

Leonardo's Notebook

Sketches, art, and science

flying machine.sdrawkcab etirw Iportrait123

Look closely

  1. Inventor: Leonardo sketched flying machines and machines centuries before they were built.
  2. Mirror writing: He wrote his notes backward, in mirror-image handwriting.
  3. Renaissance man: Skilled in art AND science. His paintings used perspective and real anatomy.

Placard

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He also filled notebooks with sketches of flying machines, human anatomy, and engineering ideas, written in mirror-image handwriting.

Leonardo is often called a "Renaissance man": a person skilled in many fields, from art to science.

Renaissance artists used perspective, a technique that makes flat paintings look three-dimensional, and studied real human bodies to paint them realistically.

Exhibit CThe Renaissance Gallery · 6.H.3–6.H.8 · 6.C.4

Michelangelo

David and the Sistine Chapel

David: 5 m tallSistine Chapel ceiling123

Look closely

  1. David (1504): A marble statue more than 5 meters tall, carved to show a real, powerful human body.
  2. Four years on a ceiling: From 1508 to 1512 he painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling from scaffolding.
  3. Humanism: His art celebrated human potential, a Renaissance idea inspired by Greek and Roman texts.

Placard

Michelangelo (1475–1564) carved the marble statue David (finished in 1504), which stands more than 5 meters (17 feet) tall. From 1508 to 1512, he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, lying on scaffolding for four years.

His work reflects humanism, a Renaissance idea that celebrated human potential and achievement, and that encouraged the study of classical (Greek and Roman) texts.

Exhibit DThe Renaissance Gallery · 6.H.3–6.H.8 · 6.C.4

The Printing Press

Gutenberg's workshop, about 1450

PRESSmovable metal typehundreds of copies123

Look closely

  1. The press: A screw press pushed paper onto inked type, printing a whole page at once.
  2. Movable type: Metal letters could be rearranged for every new page, instead of copying by hand for months.
  3. Ideas spread: By 1500, millions of books were printed. More people learned to read, and ideas spread fast.

Placard

Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg in Germany developed a printing press with movable metal type. Before this, books were copied by hand, which could take months.

Soon, printers could make hundreds of copies quickly and cheaply. By 1500, millions of books had been printed in Europe. More people learned to read, and new ideas spread faster than ever before.

Exhibit EThe Renaissance Gallery · 6.H.3–6.H.8 · 6.C.4

The Reformation

A church door in Wittenberg, 1517

95 Thesesprinted copies spread across Germany in weeks123

Look closely

  1. The Ninety-Five Theses: In 1517 Martin Luther criticized the Church, especially the sale of indulgences.
  2. Printed pamphlets: Thanks to the printing press, his ideas spread across Germany in weeks.
  3. Europe divided: The Protestant Reformation created new churches and split Europe into Catholic and Protestant regions.

Placard

In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, criticizing the Catholic Church, especially the sale of indulgences (payments that people were told would reduce punishment for sins).

Thanks to the printing press, copies spread across Germany in weeks. Luther's ideas led to the Protestant Reformation and the creation of new Christian churches. Europe was divided between Catholic and Protestant regions, which led to many conflicts.