The Artistry of Triumphal Arches

Kristen L. Rosenthal

Synopsis

In this unit, second grade students will focus on the guiding questions: How do artists change the way a community is built? How do architects use arches for design and purpose? and What ways do monuments help us understand people and events that happened long ago? This unit reinforces concepts the second grade students learn in their Science class about arch bridges. Following the Delaware Core Arts Standards, students will learn about triumphal arches and have an understanding of how public art including monuments reflects history and how we interpret the past. We will investigate how the Romans took the Etruscan arch and improved upon it to build bridges, aqueducts, amphitheaters and the Pantheon. We will look at examples from all over the world, where countries have mirrored the triumphal arch to commemorate special moments or people in history. As our culminating project, students will honor their own accomplishments and make a monument for themselves. The monuments will be a three-dimensional model of a triumphal arch, and dedicate it to themselves much like the Roman emperors did.