On Friday 11th October, all artists in the Lower Sixth arrived in Art Room 2 to make the biggest drawing of their lives.

In front of them was an eight metre roll of paper, masking tape, sticks, charcoal, rubbers and thirty sheets of paper showing the eastern pediment of the Parthenon Marbles – otherwise known as the Elgin Marbles.

Before charcoal touched paper, the students debated the provenance of these incredible statues, unpicking the stories behind them, noting technical decisions by the sculptors and considering the right of the British Museum to hold the work.

The drawing then began in earnest, with the eerie, crumbled forms emerging from the monumental sheet of paper over the course of the day. The students worked collaboratively, setting the agenda and tone of the drawing and rotating every ten minutes to ensure consistency across the whole piece. The final frenzied hour in particular saw the students push the drawing from impressive to outstanding.

We are now finding a home for the drawing at MCS so that the rest of the school can admire the handiwork of our Lower Sixth artists.