Making reliefs

Making reliefs | Pure History

The Christogram relief model is not only a gem to decorate for the students, but can also be used to teach them about the beginnings of Chritsianity, the Milvian battle, about Constantine’s life in Britain, his upbringing, his final conversion to Christianity and his baptism on his death bed. It is a very colourful and playful way in getting into distant pasts. The relief is the cast of a Roman original stone, it is authentic history. The Chi-Rho characters are known in history as Constantine’s cross, the Christian monogram. The Greek letters X (Chi) and P (Rho) with the letters X and P in Latin stand for the Greek Χριστ?ς (Christos) and were interpreted as PAX, Freedom. That is why peace was also known as Pax Christi. Again, students will find out lots of these elements, simply by looking carefully at what they work on, colour out or use in drama plays.

Roman Stone Reliefs

Similar our tomb stone fragment of Marcus Caelius will interest students as it brings history vividly close to them. Marcus Caelius was a centurion of Legio XVIII Augusta. The original of this replica was found at Castra Vetera at the northern German city of Xanten and commemorates the death of this Roman soldier who died in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D. The battle is also known as the Varian disaster (clades Variana) by Roman historians, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus. The only mention of this battle, however, on any archaeological evidence is this roman tomb stone of Marcus Caelius. How fun will it be to learn of this decisive moment in European history, as despite several successful campaigns and raids by the Roman army in the years after the battle, they never again attempted to conquer Germania territory east of the Rhine River.

Of course, we give a full deciphering and translation of this inscription in the accompanying instruction. Hence, the students can copy the stone inscription either in Latin or in translation, can paint or patinate it, as indicated in the instructions.

History simply explained

Or check out the fine painted relief in The Roman Shop section of painted reliefs: There is a two-dimensional painted relief of a gladiator with sword! The painted relief is made after an authentic antique model of a Roman relief and can be coloured with tempera or simply water colours. The gladiator is approximately 25 centimeters high and made of white Alabaster plaster.

There are no limits to creativity when painting or writing on a plain relief plate made of plaster. It allows you to use a nail to carve out your own image, write a Latin inscription, colour the plate with tempera or water colours. The blank plates are ideal for cross-curricular projects.

Colour Reliefs

Wallpaintings from egyptian Temples & Tombs

Historic reliefs can lead students to embrace history in a playful way. The ancient reliefs are suitable not only for your history lessons, they can also introduce into RE, arts or language studies. On the following pages you will find Teaching Material on Egypt with authentic motives and designs.

Colour egyptian Reliefs

How about a historic relief of the Egyptian goddess Isis? It will convey something very special about the Egyptian goddess: because in Egyptian mythology Isis is the goddess of birth, rebirth, and magic, but also the goddess of death. For the first time Isis appears in inscriptions of the Old Empire. She became famous among the Egyptians together with her husband Osiris and her twin sister Nephthys, playing an important role in the so-called myth of Osiris and the hymn to Isis. Isis was worshipped into the Christian era as one of the living Hellenistic goddesses who were adopted by Greeks, Romans and in the form of Mary also by Christians.

This myth of Osiris was one of the central stories in Egyptian mythology. It originates from ancient Egyptian oral traditions and reports the murder of Osiris through his brother Seth and the efforts of his wife and sister Isis... What an exciting subject to study and to experience by creating one’s own art works.

Create hieroglyphics reliefs

When painting or writing a plain relief made of plaster, creativity has no limits. You can carve your own pictures and drawings with a simple nail or imitate some Egyptian hieroglyphs. Choose a template for the Egyptian characters, you will find them in our category of Teaching Material on Egypt. Once you have done the outline design, the students can paint the plate with watercolours or tempera – both of which you can also find in our shop. The blank plates are ideal for cross-disciplinary projects or project weeks.