Response essay for “The Birth of Venus painting”
***WORK OF ART I WILL ANAYLYZE IS The Birth of Venus is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli*** The challenge is to analyze a work of art, separating its parts in order to understand the whole. You must resist the urge to merely describe, and instead evaluate the object. Organization of the Paper: (further explanations and examples can be found in the Survival Guide handout) 1. The Introduction. (a) Write a Short Description of the Work You Have Chosen. Include identifying subject matter or forms, setting or space, color, medium, artist, and current location. (b) State Your Main Argument. A thesis statement related to the overall effect or meaning of the object. (c) State (Briefly) the Ways in Which You Will Prove It. 2. The Main Body (a detailed description/analysis that may include, but is not limited to, the following): (a) Discuss the Medium, the medium’s traits, and the artist’s use of the medium. (b) Discuss the relevant formal elements (i.e.: line, shape and space, composition and relative scale, light and color, style) (c) Discuss the composition (i.e.: unity/variety, balance, emphasis, focal point) (d) Discuss the relationship the formal elements and composition have to the subject’s meaning (or overall effect). 3. The Conclusion. (a) Restate the Main Argument. (b) Place this work of art into the big picture. Relate it to a larger issue, art-historical movement, etc. 4. ATTACH AN IMAGE OF THE OBJECT Attach an image of the object **Don’t forget to include the objective information somewhere within the paper: artist (if known), culture, date and period; medium; size; museum. Most, if not all, will be available on the museum label found near the object. 1. How do the various formal elements interact? 2. Does the relationship convey the unity of the forms? How? 3. Are all the forms clustered-toward the center, or are they balanced at either side? 4. Is the composition symmetrical? 5. How is emphasis achieved through form? 6. What is the focal point of the composition? 7. How is this focal point created? 8. What is the theme or idea conveyed by the focal point? ***WORK OF ART I WILL ANAYLYZE IS THE FOLLOWING: The Birth of Venus is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably made in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown. The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Artist: Sandro Botticelli Dimensions: 5′ 8″ x 9′ 2″ Location: Uffizi Gallery Created: 1485–1486 Subject: Venus Periods: Renaissance, Italian Renaissance, Florentine painting, Early renaissance
