HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 1 Discussion
By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible.
For this week's discussion assignment, you will explore the characteristics of Early Renaissance art in both Northern and Southern Europe. Address each part of the assignment below:
Part 1
Two of the great innovations of the Renaissance in painting were the artist's ability to depict a more contemporary world, and to create the illusion of a three-dimensional world in a painting. By studying and comparing paintings created in Italy from the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, you can see how this innovation developed:
Giotto. Lamentation Fresco in the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, 1305–06
Masaccio, The Tribute Money, c. 1427
Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1481
In a minimum of 2 well-developed paragraphs, identify and describe at least 3 specific details or elements that progressively illustrate the artist's concern for depicting a more natural world and for creating the illusion of three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface of the painting.
Part 2
As we learned this week, art historians analyze a work of art using a specific vocabulary to describe its physical and visual properties, and by interpreting its subject matter, symbolism, and socio-historical context. Select one of the following paintings:
Jan Van Eyck, Double Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife, 1434
Petrus Christus, A Goldsmith in His Shop, 1449
Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, 1474-76
For your selected painting:
In a paragraph of 4-6 sentences, describe the composition of the painting, including its use of color and light, and the representation of space. Explain why some artistic elements in the painting look realistic to you and some do not look realistic. Discuss whether the figures fit into the space, whether their movements seem believable, whether their clothes fit their bodies properly, and whether there are shadows that make sense.
Read about your selected painting in the course textbook and/or through reliable online resources. In a paragraph of 4-6 sentences, describe the overall subject matter of the painting; the meaning of some of the objects in the painting; and any social, historical, political, and/or religious factors that are important to understanding the painting. Be sure to provide citations for any outside sources you reference in this part of your response.
Respond to both parts of the assignment thoroughly, making sure to use information from the readings and the lectures. All responses should be in complete sentence form, using proper spelling and grammar.
As soon as possible, review and comment on the work of two of your peers. In your comments, consider areas you would suggest for expansion or clarification
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 2 Discussion
By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible.
Question 1: Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture in Italy
The biblical hero David was a popular subject for sculpture and painting throughout the Renaissance and into the Baroque period. By studying, comparing, and contrasting sculptures of David created in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, you can begin to see the stylistic changes that occurred across these centuries. In a minimum of 3 well-developed paragraphs, compare and contrast the following 3 sculptures of David:
Early Renaissance: Donatello. David. 1446-1460.
High Renaissance: Michelangelo. David. 1501-1504.
Baroque. Gianlorenzo Bernini. David. 1623.
In your comparison, discuss:
What specific visual similarities do you observe in these three sculptures?
What specific differences do you see? Consider the representation of the figure, additional objects portrayed, and the role of the viewer for each sculpture
How has the attitude of David changed between these three representations?
How is each sculpture representative of the time period and style in which it was created?
Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.
Question 2: Dutch Baroque Painting
As we learned this week, Dutch Baroque art showed the influence of Protestantism and the middle-class merchants and traders who served as patrons. Dutch Baroque artists created portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and genre scenes of domestic life.
In a minimum of 2 well developed paragraphs, discuss how the following paintings reflect the social and historical context of sixteenth-century Holland. Consider the influence of religion, commerce, social structure, and/or patrons of the art in your response. Offer specific examples of how the subject of each painting reflects the society and culture in which it was created.
Frans Hals, The Women Regents of the Old Men's Home at Haarlem, c. 1664
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632
Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664
Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.
Respond to both questions as thoroughly as possible, making sure to use information from the readings and the lectures. All responses should be in complete sentence form, using proper spelling and grammar.As soon as possible, review and comment on the work of two of your peers (click the rubric below to learn how to achieve the most credit). In your comments, consider areas you would suggest for expansion or clarification.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 3 Discussion
By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible.
Question 1: Monumental Architecture and Sculpture
The cultures we studied this week produced architecture and monumental sculpture, in addition to smaller works of art. Locate three examples of architecture or monumental sculpture from three different cultures listed here: India, China, Japan, Korea, or the Pacific Cultures.
First, completely identify each structure or sculpture you would like to discuss by listing its name, date, and location.
In a minimum of 3 well-developed paragraphs address the following questions:
Who created each work of architecture or sculpture? Who commissioned its creation?
What historical events or social or cultural influences affected the creation of each work?
How do the visual characteristics of each work contribute to or enhance its message or meaning?
How do the reasons these works were created compare with those of a more modern example of monumental art work, such as Mount Rushmore, the 9/11 Memorial, etc.?
Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific details about each work of architecture or monumental sculpture.
Question 2: The Function of Art Objects
Some of the art objects created by the cultures surveyed this week, whether African masks, Japanese tea bowls, or Micronesian navigational charts, served functional roles in their society. Locate three such objects, one each from the following: Asia, Africa, or the Pacific Cultures.
First, completely identify each object you would like to discuss by listing its name, date, and location.
In a minimum of 2 well-developed paragraphs discuss:
What was the function of each object at the time of its creation?
What historical events or social or cultural influences affected the creation of each work?
How do the visual characteristics of each object contribute to or enhance our understanding of its meaning?
Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific details about each work.
Respond to both questions as thoroughly as possible, making sure to use information from the readings and the lectures. All responses should be in complete sentence form, using proper spelling and grammar.
As soon as possible, review and comment on the work of two of your peers.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 4 Discussion
By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible.
Question 1: Art of the Americas
This week, we studied a vast array of cultural objects produced in North, South, and Central America prior to 1492. Select one object from each of the following cultures: Aztec, Inca, and North (Native) American.
First, identify each object, including its name, date, medium, and location/geographical region of origin.
Then, in a minimum of 2 well-developed paragraphs, address the following questions for each object:
What are the unique and specific visual characteristics of the object? How are these visual characteristics typical of the time and place in which the object was created?
How does meaning or function of the object reflect the culture in which it was produced?
Question 2: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism
Beginning in the 19th century, artistic movements carry the suffix "-ism" to their name. Originally derived from Ancient Greek, "-isms" is appended to a word that then reflects a philosophical concept. In the case of art, it comes to mean the philosophy or approach to art that binds a group of artists together.
Select one representative example from each of the following "-isms" studied this week: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism. In 3 well-developed paragraphs, discuss:
What is the philosophy or approach to art that is defined by the –ism.
What are the specific visual characteristics of your example that are representative of the overall style of the –ism?
How does the specific subject of your selected work reflect the philosophy of the –ism?
Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 5 Discussion
By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible.
Question 1: The Painting of Modern Life
The late nineteenth century is often cited as a critical point in the development of a "modern" art. Impressionists and Post-Impressionists turned to the contemporary world as primary subject matter, and depicted elements of that world using an innovative style.
Carefully examine the following paintings:
Monet, Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (In Sun), 1894
Manet, Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1881-82
Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, c. 1884-86
In 3 well-developed paragraphs, address the following questions:
How is the subject of each painting representative of Impressionism or Post-Impressionism?
How are the style and visual characteristics of each painting representative of Impressionism or Post-Impressionism? Be sure to discuss specific elements such as brushwork/application of paint, use of color and light, and composition, in your response.
Describe the specific ways that each painting shows tension between its inherent two-dimensionality and any illusion of three-dimensionality created by the artist.
Question 2:
Modern and Contemporary Art may seem alien to many people— seemingly without content, message, or purpose. But it can be argued that Modern and Contemporary Art visually reflect the complex and abstract ideas that we experience every day. Although not for everyone, art of the 20th and 21st centuries is often a key part of the collection in many art museums. As you consider the wide range of modern and contemporary art types that we studied this week, think of yourself actually visiting a modern art museum. In 2 well-developed paragraphs discuss:
While you are visiting, what type of Modern or Contemporary art will you most want to see and why? Be sure to name the specific style (e.g., Analytic Cubism, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism)
What type will you put last on your list of "things to look for?"
Why do you feel that way?
Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas. Include the images of these specific works of art in your response.
Respond to both questions as thoroughly as possible, making sure to use information from the readings and the lectures. All responses should be in complete sentence form, using proper spelling and grammar.
As soon as possible, review and comment on the work of two of your peers. In your comments, consider areas you would suggest for expansion or clarification.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 1 Project
Instructions
Changes in the Human Figure in Art
You likely noticed that during the two hundred years covered in this week’s study there were radical changes in how the human figure is depicted in Italy, from something that was highly stylized to an idealized form that looked more real yet was strongly influenced by the Classical Age of ancient Greece and Rome. In Northern Europe, however, depiction of the human form remained somewhat stylized.
Use the textbook and/or online sources to locate and capture three works of art.
one from the Early Renaissance (fourteenth century, 1300–1399)
one from the Northern European Renaissance (fifteenth century, 1400–1499)
one from the Italian Renaissance (fifteenth century, 1400–1499)
Your works of art must either be all paintings or all sculptures.
First, place images of your selected works in a Word document. Then do the following:
For each work identify:
The artist
Title of the work of art
The date(s) it was created
The medium or materials used to create the work of art, such as oil paint, marble, etc.
Where the work is located now.
In a well-developed paragraph, provide at least two important historical facts about each work.
In another well-developed paragraph, describe how each artist depicted the human figure, supporting your observation using art historical vocabulary from this week's reading.
Then, In a 6–10-sentence concluding paragraph:
Compare and contrast how the depiction of the human figure has changed. Be sure to note such things as general appearance of the figures; their body types; whether the figures have been stylized, elongated, or idealized; and whether their clothing, colors, and other visual details have changed.
Based on your reading and what you learned from the historic facts you have for each work of art discuss what may have been influencing factors behind these changes.
Offer a citation of your sources for each image and the information provided as appropriate.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 2 Project
Instructions
Religion in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century European Art
Whether artists were working under the patronage of a Catholic Pope, endorsing a Counter-Reformation agenda, or producing art influenced by the Protestant Reformation, religion had an undeniable impact on the creation of art in the High Renaissance and Baroque periods in Europe.
Carefully examine the following works, and read about each one in your textbook, course and video lectures, and through reliable internet resources:
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-12
Grünewald, Isenheim Altarpiece, 1510-15
Durer, Four Apostles, 1526
Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, 1599-1600
Rubens, Elevation of the Cross, 1610
In an essay of 5-7 well-developed paragraphs, address each of the following questions, making specific references to the five paintings listed above:
How does each painting reflect the religious context in which it was created? What is the religious context or influence apparent in each painting?
What additional historical events may have influenced the creation of each painting?
What, if any, was the influence of the patron of each painting?
Explain how the style and specific visual characteristics of each painting contributed to or reflected its overall religious context or meaning, especially for contemporary audiences.
Include specific details about the visual characteristics and content of each painting in your response.
Provide proper citations for any information from outside sources included in your essay.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 3 Project
Instructions
Exhibition of World Art
Imagine you are a curator at your local city’s Museum of Art. You have been asked to organize a small exhibition of objects of art from the cultures of Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Your exhibition should include representative objects that highlight significant and essential ideas of each culture. You may plan to include actual objects in your exhibition, or photographs or models of larger structures or sculptures.
Survey your course textbook and reliable internet websites to locate two art objects from each of the following five cultures: India, China, Japan, Africa, and Oceania (the Pacific Cultures), that you would like to include in your exhibition. Your objects must date to the time period we are studying in this course (1300-Present Day). You will select a total of ten objects for display in your “Exhibition of World Art.”
Then, write a “museum label “for each object within a Microsoft Word document. The following should be on the “label “for each object:
A photograph of the object
Identifying information:
Name of the artist (if known—otherwise, attribute the culture)
Title of the work
Date of the work
Medium/materials used to create the work
Current location
A paragraph of 4-5 sentences describing why the object is representative of its culture and is culturally significant. Briefly explain why you have selected the object for display.
Finally, in a paragraph of 8-10 sentences, write a summarizing overview of your “Exhibition of World Art,” highlighting key similarities and distinctions between the objects you have curated. Imagine that visitors to your exhibition will read this overview as they enter your “Exhibition of World Art,” and provide them with any information or context they may need to fully appreciate the objects on display.
Offer a citation of your sources for each image and the information provided as appropriate.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 4 Project
Instructions
Art as Revolution
This week, we have studied works of art produced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that reflected, or in some cases, incited, social change or even revolution.
Carefully examine the following works, and read about each one in your textbook, course and video lectures, and through reliable internet resources:
Hogarth, Breakfast Scene, 1795
David, Death of Marat, 1793
Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830
Goya, Third of May, 1808, 1814-15
Courbet, The Stone Breakers, 1849
In an essay of 5-7 well-developed paragraphs, address the following questions, making specific references to the five paintings listed above:
How did each painting reflect or inspire social change or revolution? What was the social or revolutionary context of the painting?
What additional historical events or social factors may have influenced the creation or interpretation of each painting?
Explain how the style and specific visual characteristics of each painting contributed to or reflected its overall content or meaning.
Do these paintings have the same impact or meaning to audiences today? Why or why not?
Include details about the visual characteristics and content of each painting in your response. Provide proper citations for any information from outside sources included in your essay.
HUM1002 History of Art from Middle Ages
Week 5 Project
Instructions
Time Travel
Assume you have been given the ability to travel back in time, and you are about to set off on a trip to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The purpose of your trip is to visit artists in their studios and view firsthand the creation of some of their paintings and sculpture.
In your time travels, you will collect information on five different styles of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art, as represented by one artist from each style. Before you set out, decide which specific styles you would like to explore.
Select one style from each of the five categories listed below:
Late Nineteenth Century: Impressionism or Post Impressionism
Early Twentieth Century: Fauvism, Expressionism, or Futurism
Cubism: Analytic or Synthetic
Post-World War I Art: Dada or Surrealism
Post-World War II Art: Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, or Pop Art
For each of your five selected styles, identify one artist who represents that style whose studio you will explore in your time travels. In your visits to each artist’s studio, plan to identify one work of art that best exemplifies the artist’s style.
When you return from your time travels, prepare a report that includes the following information for each of your five representative works of art:
A photograph of the object
Identifying information:
Name of the artist
Title of the work
Date of the work
Medium/materials used to create the work
Identify the style of the work of art. Then, write a paragraph of 4-6 sentences that:
Describes the visual characteristics that makes the object representative of its style
Places the work within its social and historical context and explains why it is culturally significant
Finally, in a well-developed paragraph of 6-8 sentences, summarize what you have learned from your “time travels,” highlighting key similarities and distinctions between the artists you visited and their representative works of art.
Your report should conclude with an explanation about which style you find most interesting and why.
Offer a citation of your sources for each image and the information provided as appropriate
