Adam and Eve at the Walters Art Musuem, Baltimore MD

1. Write a visual analysis (2 pages) of your object. A visual analysis is a detailed description of an artwork. You can think of it as giving a visual tour of the object. Imagine you are describing the work of art to someone who has never seen it before!

What is the subject matter?

Describe the overall content – what is the scene depicted or story being told?

Describe in detail the individual figures depicted – facial features, proportions. What does the artist emphasize?

What is the setting? Describe in detail – Is there a landscape? Is it urban or rural? How is space/perspective being used?

How do the figures relate to one another?

What does the composition convey?

How would you describe the colors, surface textures, masses and volumes?

What is the medium/material used? What about technique?

If you choose a sculpture: is it in relief or in the round? Does it have a base or inscriptions? Is it symmetrical or asymmetrical? From what position was it made to be viewed?

If a portrait: what attributes are included.

Is the work naturalistic, stylized, or abstract?

2. write a contextual analysis of your object (2 pages). For the contextual analysis you will relate the work of art you have chosen to the stylistic period in which it was made.

Use those questions as your guide.

The time period in which it was made and how your work of art relates to that period. (What is it about the style that tells you it is part of this stylistic period?)

Discuss your object within the context of formal developments.

What are the major stylistic developments that characterize the style of your object.

What is the intended purpose of the work of art – what function did it serve?