Through an examination of both primary and secondary sources on the subject, including various types of visual media in addition to electronic and written sources, Students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics of Dadaism as a rejection of bourgeois culture during the Great War and how Dada artists and poets intentionally used irrational nonsense, satire and irony in an attempt to bring sense to the world around them.

Through an examination of both primary and secondary sources on the subject, including various types of visual media in addition to electronic and written sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum as a result of the Vesuvius eruption of 79 CE, what archaeologists found when they unearthed the Villa of the Mysteries, what the different frescoes depict in the villa, and what the scenes depicted in the paintings might be able to tell modern visitors about Roman society in the first century CE.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind the painting of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo, the techniques used by the artist to paint the masterpiece and how he used different shading, tones and images to convey his message of fear and dread.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Leonardo’s place in Renaissance Italian society, the techniques he used to produce his masterpiece The Last Supper, how those choices ultimately doomed the painting to the ravages of the elements, and how different restoration and conservation attempts have fared over the centuries.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Leonardo’s place in Renaissance Florentine society, his major scientific and artistic works, and how da Vinci’s thirst for knowledge and his genius combined to produce the ultimate “Renaissance Man”.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind Leonardo’s most famous oil painting the Mona Lisa, how and why the painting was created, how the painting ended up in the Louvre and why it continues to be studied by scholars and artists to this day.