We paint without colors

“Let’s paint without colors” is an activity aimed at practically all primary school years (from 1st to 4th grade) and seeks to explain the process of making pigments from elements present in nature. Through a question in the form of a challenge, students are urged to think about how it is possible that a thousand years ago they could paint the interiors of buildings, paintings, etc. and that they are still preserved today. Based on their answers, the tour of the rooms will begin
of the Museum’s permanent exhibition. Through a chronological itinerary, we will talk about painting on stone, on wood and finally on canvas. Based on the students’ questions and comments, the educator will provide support material from a teaching bag and they will gradually discover the origins of the colors. Then we will reach the discovery point where, in a free way, the students will discover the original powdered pigments and the places where they are extracted, as well as the glues of natural origin and the different supports. Finally, in the workshop room, we will experience the possibilities that the elements of nature offer for the production of pigments. In small work groups, the students will prepare black pigment with coal, indigo blue with crushed flowers, orange with saffron, etc. These colors will be used to color some details of works in the Museum and thus make their own and original interpretation of a work of art.