At KS2, pupils studying Victorian Britain might investigate a day out to the House of Commons to see the frescoes and the rest of Parliament. In the 19th century, such trips were made possible by the growth of the railways and companies like Thomas Cook offering package deals. A more ambitious study, for KS2 or Year 8, might ask students to put themselves in the position of a Chartist or supporter of Captain Swing, and to decide whether the frescoes did anything to make them feel better about their situation.
Links between monumental art and a sense of citizenship in the frescoes might be explored comparatively at GCSE or post-16 level. Students could compare the similarities and differences between these frescoes and the monumental art of Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union.
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