Art theme: history paintings

History paintings relate important stories and – perhaps confusingly – the category includes religious and mythological stories alongside historical scenes. Often these works contain an important message and the size of the work (its scale) can be significant as a result.

Look, describe and discuss

Open a full-screen version of the zoomable image in a new window.

Ask your students to describe the artwork, encouraging them to simply say what they can see.

You can start by showing the whole image, and then use the zoom feature to explore details of the painting. Or you might like to start by using the zoom feature to show a detail from the image, and then zoom out to see more.

Encourage your students to look carefully – this is their superpower! It's best to not give too much background information about the artwork at this stage, so students can develop their own ideas and opinions.

Nudge questions

Now when looking at the painting, ask more specific ('nudge') questions:

• Who or what does the artist want us to look at first? Is there a focal point?
• How is action expressed? Does this battle scene appear realistic?
• Does it feel safe to walk into this scene? Would it be peaceful or noisy, ordered or chaotic? Explain your answer.
• Is it a true-to-life realistic painting? Why or why not? (Tip: ask your students to consider scale and proportion, shadows and shading.)

Questions from The Superpower of Looking Kit

Now we can start to explore the 'elements' of the painting.

For this artwork, you will focus on:

• Figures (expression and gesture)
• Space
• Colour (e.g. is colour used expressively or decoratively?)

Ask your students to evidence their points:

• where exactly are they looking when they make a statement?
• can everybody see what they see?
• slow down, take time to really look closely

You may like to introduce knowledge from the contextual background for teachers while asking these bespoke questions with helpful answers which can be found in the teachers' notes.

Everyone learning

You can find out more about The Superpower of Looking SEND/ASD/ALN/ASN approach on the Superpower homepage.

Now it's time to explore the artwork in different ways. This list of sensory activities encourages students to apply their learning and can suit a variety of learning needs.

Make

We suggest creative activities for all learners, including a tactile option to support students with vision impairment: these activities explore the tactile qualities of materials or involve gestural mark-making to further explore the artwork.

• Make egg tempera paint and see how fast it dries. Separate the yolk from an egg and remove any excess egg white with a paper towel. Gently pinch the yolk and drip the contents into a bowl, discarding the sac. Add 5 teaspoons of water and mix well (a couple of drops of white vinegar will make it last longer). In a separate pot (use the egg carton or yoghurt pots) add some powdered colour pigment, such as turmeric or ground chalks, and then stir in a little of the egg mixture until it feels like cream. Paint quickly, before it dries!
• Tactile option: try making horse brasses. Take a ball of air-drying clay or salt dough, and press into a flattened circle (use the ones on the white horse for inspiration). Make patterns by pressing into the clay. Once the clay has dried, lay a piece of kitchen foil over the shape and gently mould it over the shape with your fingertips, then take it off. Repeat until you have enough ‘brasses’ to decorate a bridle!
• Further inspiration: In 2021 the painting was the subject of The National Gallery's Take One Picture exhibition. You can see how schools were inspired by the armour worn in the painting to create Renaissance helmet decorations and shield designs. Take inspiration from their work to create your own battle-themed art and craft.

Experience

• Listen to these children as they take a look at the painting in this video from the National Gallery. Did the children spot anything your class didn't see? Do they agree with the children's ideas about the battle?

• Create a sensory experience. Feel the different textures in the painting: velvet or brocade (like Niccolò’s hat), chainmail (try a chainmail purse), long feathers on the helmets, reins (try leather belts). Don’t forget the scent of roses! You could even taste oranges and pomegranates to represent the ones growing at the edges of the painting.

Communicate

• Create a freeze frame or tableau showing a battle scene. How will students position themselves to suggest action and conflict? How could they communicate their feelings with their gestures and expressions?
• Learn the Makaton sign for 'soldier'.

Final stage: review

Ask your students to:

• share their sketchbooks in groups and discuss the 'elements' they have identified
• choose an element/aspect they find most interesting about the artwork and record it in their sketchbooks
• choose their own name/s for the title of the artwork
• think of a question they would like to ask the artist

Congratulations!

You have now completed this lesson resource on The Superpower of Looking.

There are more resources in this theme to try – have a look at the 'next lessons' section below.