After teaching the formulas for parallelograms, trapezoids and triangles and allowing them practice through taking them apart and rearranging them, use this as a warm-up or review.

 

Preparation: Each student should get his/her own copy of the painting. The painting can be three or four to a page to save paper. It can be in black and white if colored ink is limited. If this is the case, project the original, colored image on the screen for the students to view as they work.

 

Student Instructions: Use the work of art to answer your questions. (PFD coming soon.)

• Using a ruler, find the area of the following pieces:

1. The trapezoid:
2. The two triangles (add together):
3. Place a number “3” inside one parallelogram that you see in the painting.

 

• Give the area of the floor, windows, ceiling, walls, etc. and one dimension.  What is the measurement of the other side(s)?

 

 

 

 

Image assessment project

 

 

 

This is an application piece. They have already learned the material and now they must apply what they have learned. Often, young people miss important details when they are making decisions or solving problems. In teaching our students to observe details well and in such a way that allows them to make better judgments, they can be more successful in finding solutions.

• What do you notice about this drawing? Look closely at the background, middle ground, and foreground.
• Why do you think Kiefer chose to render this room on such a large scale and in such careful detail? How does this affect the emotional impact of the painting?
• What types of colors are used throughout the work of art? What associations do you have with these colors?
• Why do you think Kiefer has written names beside the pools of blood? What effect does this have?
• Kiefer chose burlap, rather than canvas, and added charcoal drawing over the oil painting. What does his choice of unconventional materials add to the painting?
• How would the effect of the painting change if he had used more traditional materials?

• Keifer’s work frequently deals with the issues of coming to terms with Germany’s Nazi past. How is this idea of reconciliation with the past represented within this work of art?
• In this painting, the artist has recorded the names of the fallen rulers of the Nibelungen next to their own pools of blood. What does the inclusion of their names add to the work?
• Keifer choose to depict an empty room where the action had just come to an end. How does the deception of the aftermath create a tone of despair? How would the tone change if the artist instead painted the violence of war violent action?
• What is the legacy of the war for the German people today? What about the Jewish people?
• This painting conflates the glory of Germany’s mythic past with the tragedy of its more recent history. Imagine you are a contemporary German citizen. How do you think it would feel to deal with these issues?

• Observe the lines, angles, and shapes within the work of art.
• Using math vocabulary (such as parallelogram, perpendicular, right triangle, adjacent, intersecting, skew, etc.), describe parts of the work of art. Compare and contrast, noting their attributes.
•  What mathematical formulas would a builder use to create this room?

The title of this important early work by German artist Anselm Kiefer is a pun on The Song of the Nibelungen, an epic poem from the 13^th century whose plot revolves around a magic ring that grants the power to rule. The Sorrow of the Nibelungen (Der Nibelungen Leid) is one of the “attic paintings,” a series of works that Kiefer painted in 1973 in his attic studio in Odenwald at the edge of the Black Forest. The painting depicts a wooden room with heavily grained bare floorboards and rafters, much like the artist’s studio.

The 13^th century German epic poem, The Song of the Nibelungen, tells the story of the Burgundian ruling family. German composer Richard Wagner, one of Kiefer’s heroes, retold the story of the Nibelungen in his operas Der Ring des Nibelungen, a series often referred to as the Ring Cycle. During World War II, Adolf Hitler used the Nibelungen Lied—along with Wagner’s music—as propaganda.

Kiefer’s work frequently addresses the issue of coming to terms with Germany’s Nazi past. In this painting, he has recorded the names of the fallen rulers of the Nibelungen next to their own pools of blood—transforming the popular legend into an elegy for the dead. The naming of the victims makes their plight more real and more personal, memorializing their deaths and the deaths of all those who have been killed unjustly. The swirling lines of the wood grain and the dramatic illusion of deep space create an animated stage on which a violent drama has just come to an end, the visceral remnants and the pain of its effects still fresh.

With its allusions to the Nibelungen and to Nazi horrors, the painting conflates the glory of Germany’s mythic past with the tragedy of its more recent history. Kiefer also created a searing pun in his title: by substituting “Leid” for “Lied,” The Song of the Nibelungen becomes The Sorrow of the Nibelungen.

In one sense, Kiefer works in the grand tradition of history painters. This painting is rendered on a monumental scale that emphasizes the importance of its subject matter. The realistic and detailed representation of the enormous room creates a sense of awe and reverence, while also reinforcing the actuality of events. Kiefer is well known for his innovative techniques and unusual materials. Here, he puts a contemporary twist on the history genre by scrawling names on the canvas, applying paint freely, and employing unusual media. Kiefer chose burlap rather than canvas and added charcoal drawing over the oil painting. The charcoal lines create an effect similar to that of woodblock printing. However, the rough texture of this painting is more immediate than the smooth surface of a print. These unconventional materials and technique reinforce the painting’s emotional power.