Painting

Master and Apprenctice

Suppose that a man should propose to paint an object of extreme beauty, and that this should never grow worse, but always better, as time went on, do you not see that, since the painter is mortal, unless he leaves a successor who is able to repair the picture if it suffers through time, and also in the future to improve it by touching up any deficiency left by his own imperfect craftsmanship, his interminable toil will have results of but short duration?

- Athenian from Plato's Laws

Topic Description and Links

How was painting and similar arts taught and learned from ancient to contemporary Greece? Pupils gathered in workshops to learn the techniques of a Master painter. The Master painter was often a well-known and older artisan whose work was well-known in the community. The pupils were beginner painters trying to improve their skills through the workshops.

The Master painter would create a model from which the young artists would then copy repeatedly. The process of repetition was important in order for the students to grasp particular styles and improve upon their own technique.

Generative Questions and Hints

To help you reason through the cases in this lesson, answer these questions and record your responses to recall during the corresponding lesson activities in Greece and for the reports that you will make on what you have learned.

	Think about some learning activities you practice through repetition. Have these been helpful in your ability to grasp the subject matter?
	Do you think there are certain subjects that are better learned through the process of procedural learning?
	When have you acted as a Master to a student either as teacher or mentor? Was this relationship successful in building the student's knowledge?

Lesson Activity

In Greece, study examples of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Then using your acquired knowledge, describe and discuss how these artifacts were created and how these skills were taught and learned.

Gather data from your activity and record notes on your reasoning of this case for later analysis and reporting (and publishing on the QFK Web).

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