Posted: March 27th, 2015

Art History II

Art History II

I. Slide comparisons: Choose 3 of 5 pairs of images, 15 points each (45 points for section)
Choose 3 of the 5 pairs of images to compare, and list the artist, date, culture or style, and materials for each image shown.  Then write another paragraph or two comparing and contrasting the images in terms of style, subject, meaning, function, or other attributes.

II. Essays: For the 3 exam option: Choose 2 of 5 essay questions, 25 points each (50 points for section)
For the 4 exam option: Choose 1 of 5 essay questions, 25 points each (25 points for section)
For each essay, choose 3 or 4 artworks to focus your discussion on and build your answer around.  Use vocabulary from your reading whenever you are able to, and be sure to list the identifying information for each artwork you discuss (enough of a description that I can tell what you’re talking about) as well as the artist, relevant style and date created.  Those who post all essays and comparisons by midnight on Sunday, 2/15 will receive 5 extra credit points on the exam.

1.  Discuss the development of perspective in European art from the 14th-16th centuries.  Choosing 3 or 4 works of art to compare, consider the differences between intuitive and linear perspective, the placement and style of architecture in the composition, the relationships of people to architecture in the work, and compositional issues such as the placement of vanishing points.

2.  Discuss the development of portraiture in European art from the 14th-16th centuries.  Choosing 3 or 4 works of art to compare, discuss the changing styles, donors, subjects, compositions, economic factors, propaganda or message, proportions, poses, clothing, realism, idealism, and abstraction (just address a few of these).

3.  Discuss the ways in which humanism and classicism influenced Renaissance art.  Consider the different aspects of the philosophies and how they affected people’s lives and beliefs as well as art.  Choosing 3 or 4 works of art to compare, consider how humanism and classicism affect the art in terms of subject, style, meaning, media, color, composition, and intended effect on viewers (just address a few of these).

4.  Choosing 3 or 4 works of art to compare, consider the changes that have occurred from the 14th-16th centuries regarding the portrayal of the Virgin Mary and/or Jesus in religious art.  You might consider their placement, media, emotion, proportion, body positions, formal relationships, style, donors or patrons, intended message, and overall effect on the viewer.

5.  Discuss the various treatments of the human figure as it has been portrayed in the art we’ve studied (naturalistic, idealized, abstracted, etc.).  Choosing 3 or 4 works of art to compare, discuss these changes in terms of proportions, poses, clothing, realism, idealism, and abstraction (just address a few of these).