ARTH218 – HIGH RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM
Research
Paper Assignment
Description
·
Option 1: Discuss one
of the following works:
·
Bernardino
Luini, Fresco
Cycle with the Story of Procris and Cephalus, c. 1520-22, National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC
·
Giovanni Bellini and
Titian, The Feast of the Gods,
1514-29, National Gallery of Art,
·
Titian, Venus
and Adonis, c.1560, National Gallery of Art,
·
Titian and workshop, Venus and the Lute Player, c. 1565-70, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
·
Agnolo Bronzino, Portrait of
Cosimo I de’ Medici as Orpheus, c. 1538-40, Philadelphia Museum of Art
You must visit the museum in order
to observe the piece carefully (note size, material, technique, function, use,
etc.). The final goal of this exercise is to provide a convincing analysis of
the painting in its original physical and historical context, drawing relevant
information from the concepts and issues we have discussed in class, and from
bibliographic sources you have consulted.
Rather than examining how this particular
work fits within the production of the artist, or purely describing its
stylistic features, you should consider: how the piece has changed over time
(whether it has been retouched, reframed, and/or relocated); the kind of
setting where it was originally displayed; how theme and style would satisfy
the taste/preferences of its patron.
There is plenty of information for each
piece, and your task is to get familiar with different discussions/interpretations
to advance your own analysis – you can choose to back up one interpretation
that sounds really convincing and discard the others, create a combination of
several theories, or make up one of your own. In any case you have to provide
supporting evidence.
·
Option 2: Discuss one
of the following 16th-century Italian paintings using as starting
point the chapter "The Crisis of the Image" in Hans Belting’s book Likeness
and Presence: A History of the Image before the Era of Art (Chicago, The
University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 458-490:
§
Parmigianino, Vision of
§
Titian, Pietà, c. 1570, Gallerie dell’Accademia,
§
Tintoretto, Annunciation, 1583-87, Scuola Grande di S. Rocco,
If you choose this option, please inform
me of your choice at least one week before handing your paper in.
Expectations and Format
·
Successful papers will exhibit evidence of keen
critical thinking supported by sound research. The paper should not be an
exercise in pure description, nor should it present a discussion based solely
upon conjecture or supposition.
·
5
pages (about 1500 words), double-spaced, 12-point characters, with margins of
at least ¾”. This count does not include the cover page, which should be placed
at the beginning of your paper displaying the paper’s title and your name.
·
The
paper should be presented according to The Chicago
Manual of Style guidelines for academic writing in the humanities. All
ideas and passages that are not your own should be accordingly cited or
referenced in footnotes or endnotes. Please note that plagiarism is a serious
academic offense, and I will apply academic sanctions to papers with
plagiarized materials.
·
You
should use at least eight (8) different bibliographic sources (other
than your textbook), which should be appropriately listed in a bibliography
placed at the end of your paper. Please note that from those 8 sources, only four
(4) could be websites. To ensure the academic level of your paper use only
internet resources published and/or endorsed by universities and museums.
·
You
should include illustrations of all the artworks that you mention in
your paper, indicating its source.
·
A
useful guide on how to write about art is Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to
Writing About Art (1989), which is at the reserve
room at the Morris Library.