Nature as Code

About this learning resource

Format: PDF

Portrait artists of the Tudor era used nature symbolism as a form of coded language between sitter and viewer to promote a specific public image.

This lesson pack examines the difference between public image and private identity. Students decode public image in Tudor-era portraits. They will then explore, through self-portraiture incorporating nature symbols, their personal sense of self and how that supports self esteem.

National Curriculum links

• Use drawing, painting and sculpture to share ideas and imagination
• Identify what we are good at, what we like and dislike
• Recognise the ways in which we are the same and different to others

Learning Objectives

• Understand what a portrait and a self-portrait are
• Understand how nature symbols have been used by Tudor artists to convey public and private messages about the sitters
• Explore identity and how this can be represented through artwork

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