Imagine Europe’s greatest masterpieces have gone missing. An intensive search for all the missing artwork is underway, and because of your Art History knowledge and savvy research ability, you’ve been appointed to help prioritize which pieces must be recovered first.
Your Assignment:
The Museum Board of Directors has asked you to submit a 4 to 5 page report in which you justify, based on stylistic, cultural & historical significance, the recovery of 2 pieces of art. The collections you’ve been asked to rebuild range from the Prehistoric through the Early Italian Renaissance, with special attention given to the Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Medieval, Northern & Early Italian Renaissance periods. The pieces you choose will be from different time periods, will have different artistic styles and different cultural contexts, yet they’ll illustrate a particular theme, idea, concept, story or point of view that you’ll need to explain.
The Tone of the Report:
Imagine your report will be used to create a new placard program for the museum. The language used in the report should reflect your voice & writing style so it can be accessible to the general public, yet your facts, ideas and information must be supported by reputable, scholarly sources and cited according to MLA guidelines.
Report Details:
Your report should contain the following components:
Introduction with a clear, controlling idea that presents a point of view (thesis) that will be developed & explained throughout the essay
Image identification for each piece (name of image, artist, date & period)
Analysis of stylistic significance (descriptive and analytical)
Analysis of cultural significance (how social, political and religious conditions influence design, its function, or purpose, or symbolic message)
A conclusion that restates & summarizes a final point of view, or opinion
Submission Instructions:
Submit the essay as a post in this private discussion area. Cut and paste your essay from whatever word processing program you use and drop in as a post (don’t worry if the formatting gets messed up this way). DO NOT submit as an attachment. This final discussion is a private topic and your postings will be viewed only by me. You will not be able to read or respond to your classmates’ posts.
Additional Assignment Guidelines:
The two images you choose CANNOT BOTH be from the first half of the semester. At least one image must be from the second half (Byzantine through the Early Renaissance). If BOTH your images are from the second half of the semester, that’s OK! The two images you choose can be images we haven’t discussed in our modules, but relate to the time periods we’ve covered.
Research:
Research information should be drawn from the LA120 module text and at least 3 to 5 additional, scholarly sources including professional web sites like museums, research institutes or universities, scholarly databases like Oxford Art Online, or Professional journals like The Art Bulletin or JSTOR. Wikipedia MAY NOT be used! Try to use .org and .edu sites. Of course Nonfiction books are also a great source. Follow MLA formatting for all citations.
Essay Menu:
Allegory of War
Alexander Mosaic, the Battle of Alexander the Great and Darius III vs. The Battle of San Romano, Paolo Uccello Battle & War Scenes
Alexander Mosaic, the Battle of Alexander the Great and Darius III vs. The Battle of San Romano, Paolo Uccello, or The Battle of Hastings, from the Bayeaux Tapestry, France Allegory of Good Government Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Peaceful City, Palazo Publico, Siena Death of the Hero & Victims
Dying Gaul, Gallic Chiefton Killing Himself & his Wife, Menelaus Holding up the Body of Patroclus Stele
Funerary Stele, Victory Stele Plague
Medieval Art, Northern Graphic Arts Martyrdom
Byzantine through Early Renaissance Annunciation
Medieval, Northern Renaissance, Late Gothic in Italy & Early Renaissance
Crucifixion
Byzantine through Early Renaissance Deposition
Rogier Van Der Weyden, Fra Angelico Lamentation & Dead Christ
Andrea Mantegna, The Lamentation Divine Judgement and punishment
The Laocoon (Pagan); Christian Symbols of Death
All time periods Death of the Virgin
Duccio di Buoninsegna & Andrea Mantegna Funeral Rites
Simone Martini, The Funeral of St. Martin & Jan Van Eyck, Funeral Mass and Rites, from The Turin-Milan Hours
Funeral Masks Funeral Mask of Tutankhamen & Funeral Mask (Agamemnon), Mycenaean Tears
Funerary Stele, 340 B.C. Athens, National Archaeological Museum & Mourner, Tomb of Duke Jean du Berry, 15th Century & Hans Memling, The Man of Sorrows
Sacrifice
Filippo Brunelleschi, The Sacrifice of Isaac
Mausoleum
Mausoleum of Santa Costanza, Rome & Mausoleum of Theodoric, Ravenna & Mausoleum of Bartolomeo Colleoni, Bergamo
Sarcophagus
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, Late Antiquity& Sarcophagus, of Reclining Couple, Etruscan
Reliquary
Medieval France, England & Germany
Last Judgement
Gislebertus, Last Judgement Tympanum, Autun, St. Lazarre
Journey to the Afterworld
Tomb of the Diver, 470 B.C., Paestum; Greek myth
Gods of Death
Pagan & Christian
Paradise
Pagan, Christian, Islamic expressions
Gardens and Landscapes
Images of Egyptian, Greek (Minoan Spring) , Roman (Gardenscape of Livia) , Islamic, Monastic (Sacred) vs. Secular (Renaissance, Medici) gardens
Architecture (Propaganda, Sacred spaces)
Parthenon, Pantheon, Hagia Sophia, St. Marks Cathedral, Great Mosque at Cordoba, The Alhambra Palace, Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne, Romanesque (many options), Gothic (many options), Florence Cathedral Animators
Gestures & personality depicted in Byzantine, Medieval, Romanesque, or Gothic arts Motion Pictures and Television
Storytelling as reflected in the Column of Trajan (Rome), various Illuminated Manuscripts, Bishop’s Bernward’s column at St. Michaels in Hildesheim, Germany, or the Bayeaux Tapestry, France Fashion
Medieval, Northern Renaissance & Early Renaissance Graphic Design
Illuminated Manuscripts, Islamic Arts, Northern Renaissance to Italian Renaissance Sacred Feminine
Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Christian The Body: Archetypes of masculinity femininity
Egyptian, Greek, Medieval & Renaissance Portraiture Northern Renaissance & Early Renaissance
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