Please discuss these two structures.
Please consider the purpose, the
architectural style, and the patron(s) who
commissioned each.
Taj Mahal, Agra, India
Mughal period
1632-1648
Amiens Cathedral
begun in 1220;
almost “complete” by 1375
Please discuss how each artist
represents perspective.
Please discuss these two
representations of mythic females.
Sandro Botticelli
The Birth of Venus
1484-86
Jan van Eyck
The Ghent Altarpiece
Eve
1425-29
oil on wood,
Cathedral of St. Bavo, Ghent
Please discuss how each artist
represents the landscape. Please
consider issues like how the figure
is represented in the landscape,
what the artist may be trying to
argue with this representation of
the landscape, and way that the
artist creates the illusion of depth
(perspective).
Hunters in the Snow (January)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
1565
Landscape
Shitao
Leaf from an album of landscapes
Qing dynasty
c. 1700
Ink and color on paper
In each of these works, the artist is
making an argument that is based on
the doctrines of their religion. Please
uncover each argument and please
discuss how the work makes this
argument visually. You will, of course,
have to touch on each religion to
provide context for your discussion.
Matthias Grunewald
1510-1515
center panel from the Isenheim Altarpiece: Crucifixion
Monk Sewing
Ninga
Kamakura period, early 14th century
ink on paper
Kuya Preaching
Kosho
Kamakura period
before 1207 painted wood
Please compare these two works.
Duccio di Buoninsegna 1278-1318 (active)
Maesta Altarpiece 1308-1311
Siena
detail: Entry into Jerusalem
Hour of Cowdust
Punjab Hills, India
Mughal period c.1790
gouache on paper
Please compare the tone of each of
these landscapes. Make sure that you
offer visual evidence that allows you to
link your assertions about tone to the
actual work itself.
Landscape
Bunsei
Muromachi period, mid-15th century
hanging scroll, ink and light colors on paper
El Greco
View of Toledo
1610
oil on canvas
in situ
Please discuss these three works.
Discuss how their context affects these three pieces.
If appropriate, please consider how the context affects the actual
object that was made, the argument that the work makes because of
its context, and the problem that the context created as well as the
solution that the artist created to this contextual challenge.
perspective
Please discuss how the perspective is represented
in these three works.
If appropriate, please discuss the development of perspective as
evidenced by these three different representations of space;
consider not only how perspective is rendered but also what the
artist seemed to be privileging or using perspective to argue.
light
Please discuss what light is meant to argue, represent,
or accomplish in each of these three works.
the human form
Please discuss what the human form is meant to argue
or represent in each of these works.
patronage and politics
Please discuss how each of these
works of art reflects a political
argument and/or is used to exert or
retain power.
authority
Please discuss how each of these
works of art constructs authority.
miracles
Please discuss how each of these
works of art presents a miraculous
event.