Las Meninas / Felipe II: 2 thematic units - Favorites - Intermediate 2

I have a very vivid memory of my first visit to the Prado Museum and my first visual impact of the Meninas. I knew it was big, I did not realize it was huge. I had seen it so many times in books that I was very familiar with the painting but nothing prepared me for the real thing. I stood there, gaping at its beauty! It is a magnificent painting, it is awe inspiriing. I have gone back to visit the Meninas several times and every time I am overwhelmed. If you have had the same reaction, please share it in the comments section below.

I am not alone. This is the teacher’s favorite! Here there are two complete units. Preview please.

1. Las Meninas.

Present Velázquez, Goya and Picasso! The unit includes a text on the people in the Meninas (who everyone is, their names, their occupations); then comes the vocabulary of painters and painting plus more paintings, oral presentations, oral exercises with cartoons of two paintings, even a list of Spanish museums and painters for further study. What more can you ask?

Unit includes:

Subject matter: art

Vocabulary: art and war

Grammar: imperfect subjunctive

Oral practice: Goya’s paintings and cartoons

Homework: describe Guernica

Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search and further research

1. Felipe II.

Much maligned and misunderstood, Felipe II has always been pictured as the arch villain. True or false? Did you know that his reign coincided with the Golden Age of Spanish literature? I was a college student when I finally made the connection between the literary Golden Age and Felipe II, (Philip the Second in English). I must have been “en la luna” during my high school years.

Units includes:

Subject matter: history

Vocabulary: empire

Grammar: imperfect subjunctive

Oral practice: ways of transmitting information then and now

Homework: imaginary life

Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search and further research

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