This unit examines the relationship and likenesses of Italian Renaissance art and architecture to the art and architecture of Wooster Square. This unit also contains historical information about Wooster Square’s past, the people, and a visual picture of what the neighborhood was all about more than 75 years ago. It will be excellent for teaching art history, architecture and the history of New Haven’s culture and neighborhoods. The unit also discusses specific art work in Italy and Wooster Square, and the “how to” of perspective drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture.
The unit also contains information on the beginning of a town, how the town was planned and how the town was illustrated by its map-makers. The Roman town was divided into a grid pattern just as the Italian towns were after it. The Italian town’s center area was the piazza and around this large, flat space stood all the major buildings of the town: the cathedral, town hall and other government buildings, the marketplace, civic buildings, arena, and the palace of the ruler.
The classroom activities are specifically art related. And they pertain to making “works of art” according to map-making and perspective processes along with sculpture and architecture projects. The classroom activities are essential to reinforce the unit.
(Recommended for Art classes, grades 5-12; History classes, grades 5-12; and Social Studies classes, grades 5-12)
Key Words
Architecture American New Haven Connecticut Art Renaissance
