A Match Made in Heaven

"Oh, ick...." was the general comment from my 7th and 8th grade students upon learning that the subject of this painting by Leonardo DaVinci, Ginevra De Benci, was, at age 16, betrothed to a middle aged man. They had a similar response to viewing Michelangelo's David in its... entirety. 

Some aspects of our study of the high Italian Renaissance had my young teens squirming in their seats. However, the assignment to create a "match made in heaven" - or more accurately, on earth, by pairing the 17 year old David with 16 year old Ginevra, resulted in some fun art!

The drawing lessons included instruction on standard proportion as measured in head lengths, The Vetruvian Man, of course, as well as some gradual tone shading exercises. We also watched a few video clips from the fabulous BBC production, "Michelangelo the Divine." The students loved it - full of violence, blood and naked Renaissance cupids!

For the images pictured here I gave the students a photocopy of Ginevra and David's heads. They glued them on grey, buff or pink construction paper and proceeded to give them hair extensions, make up, glasses and so on. Then they decided on a contemporary activity and setting. The rest is history - love at first sight!