§ Due Date: May 1st, 2007. Penalty for late papers is 1% per day. I reserve the right of not accepting papers after one week of lateness. Extensions will only be granted to students who present a doctor’s note explaining a physical inability to complete the work on time.

§ Option 1: Discuss one of the following works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art:

· Attributed to Jan van Eyck, Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1438-40

· Rogier van der Weyden, The Crucifixion, with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist Mourning, c. 1450-55

· Unknown Antwerp workshop, Altarpiece with Scenes of the Passion, c. 1535

· Workshop of Joachim Patinir, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, early 16^th century

You must visit the museum 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.

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 five (5) 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 5 sources, only two (2) 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. Also, the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Rochester has published an excellent “Writing Guide.”

Bibliographic Resources

· The bibliography contained in your textbook and the research resources guide I have added to your syllabus will be the basic tools for this assignment, but you should also identify other relevant sources of information on your own.

· Journal articles often contain innovative and specialized information, which may also prove useful. A research guide published within the University of Delaware Library web site offers links to a range of electronic journal indexes and electronic reference sources that may help you in the initial stages of your research. Databases particularly relevant for art historical research are:

o Art Abstracts and Art Index

o Bibliography of the History of Art

o Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance

§ Option 2: Read and compare the two articles below, and write an essay critically assessing the views of the two authors:

· Craig Harbison, “Realism and Symbolism in Early Flemish Painting”, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 66, No. 4. (Dec., 1984), pp. 588-602.

· James H. Marrow, “Symbol and Meaning in Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance”, Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 16, No. 2/3. (1986), pp. 150-169.

Expectations and Format

· Successful papers will exhibit evidence of keen critical thinking. The paper should not be a mere summary of the two articles, but should demonstrate the student’s critical position in front of the two articles: What are the common or diverging points in the authors’ arguments? Do you agree with one of them? Both? None? What do you find most valuable about those discussions?

· Any information that you bring to your paper and is not contained in the articles discussed should be referenced and appropriately listed in a bibliography placed at the end of your paper. 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.