Bacteria Led to Art!! (It's True!)

I had the pleasure of guest speaking/teaching today in two of Mrs. Finnegan's 7th grade Science classes! They have been talking about unicellular prokaryotes (single-celled organisms with no nucleus), otherwise known as bacteria. One example of bacteria that made a big impact is Yersinia Pestis (pictured), more commonly known as the Bubonic Plague, which led to the death of one third to one half of the population of Europe in the 1300's. Such a decrease in population was sure to lead to major changes in society, and in this case, it led to major changes in the world of ART too! Mrs. Finnegan invited me in to talk about those changes and to lead a Renaissance-inspired art project for her students.

I specifically talked about Michelangelo and marble carving today, and I showed them images of his "Michelangelo's Slaves," the unfinished carvings originally intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II. These unfinished sculptures give us insight into the great master's carving process- we can see that he would bring certain areas and forms to a high state of finish, while other pieces of the marble are left relatively untouched, which is a unique and impressive way of doing it! I showed the kids how marble is typically carved using a chisel and hammer, but today, they got to try their hand at carving bars of white soap with my clay modeling tools! I think they gained a better appreciation for the genius Michelangelo was... to be able to create a subtractive sculpture as large and breathtaking as David is what sets him apart in the art world. And to think, it was all because of a bunch of deadly bacteria...!