Help with notes for a critical essay about the three works is given. The goals of a critical essay are to evaluate and analyze the art works based on research, using the vocabulary and concepts you have learned. Your attitude should be detached. The "critical" aspect of the essay refers to this detached attitude, not whether you react positively or negatively to the works. Your essay must include the following points:
1)A description of the works including the style.
2)A summary of the artists' personal philosophies of art (if they can be found in published sources), the prevailing trends and schools of thought in the art world at the time and in the place the artist was working. For instance, what was going on in the artists' city, country, church, that the artist or the people around him/her may have been reacting to. Any other information that might help the reader understand why the artists made the choices they did and where they were "coming from."
You will need to use the AIU Library to learn about the artists. In the Library, click Search Library and then use the "three boxes" search:
Topics: General Studies
Resources: Select All
Click Find Library Resources.
3)An explanation of how the works fit into the context of the time period.
4)Compare the three works in terms of form, content, and subject matter. Using the terminology and concepts that you have learned in the course, explain the similarities and differences in the styles of the works and the context in which they were made. Compare and contrast their aesthetic qualities and symbolic significance, as well as the artists' points of view. Your personal point of view that you have developed throughout the paper will be summarized here. As with the preceding three sections, you will write in your own words, supported by research.
You should quote the sources internally in your paper, include a reference page at the end of the paper, and also a URL for each work of art at the end of the paper.
Discuss principles of design and formal elements of art.
Demonstrate an understanding of visual literacy.
Discuss works of art in a manner that demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between art and history.
Apply critical thinking skills to the content of the course
Although we are unable to write papers for clients, please allow my notes to guide your paper. Once you formulate your essays, please feel free to send to us for editing and feedback:
First, you might select Raphael's Galatea from Villa Farnesina, Rome in 1513 as your sample piece. Its visual is found at http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/raphael/galatea.jpg.html.
As you offer a description of the works including the style, please note that he chose a verse from a poem by Angelo Poliziano to show the sea-nymph's grace and joyful personality. In terms of style, please note that movement is a key feature. Critics say that for "every figure seems to correspond to some other figure, every movement to answer a counter-movement" (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/raphael/galatea.jpg.html). You might add how Raphael achieves constant movement throughout the picture. Although it is constantly moving, please not that there is still a sense of balance within this piece with its "perfect and harmonious composition of freely moving figures" (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/raphael/galatea.jpg.html).
When assessing Raphael's philosophies of art, please note that he focuses on a concept of beauty. "When he had finished the Galatea, Raphael was asked by a courtier where in all the world he had found a model of such beauty. He replied that he did not copy any specific model but rather followed a certain idea he had formed in his mind" (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/raphael/galatea.jpg.html).
Besides this unique concept of beauty, please note that Raphael's work also typifies the prevailing trends and schools of thought in the art world at the time and in the place the artist was working. For instance, you might note that like his teacher Perugino, Raphael abandoned the trend to portray nature in art. Instead, he "deliberately used an imagined type of regular beauty" (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/raphael/galatea.jpg.html).
Instead of looking at nature's ideal beauty, critics claim how "the process was reversed. Artists tried to modify nature according to the idea of beauty they had formed when looking at classical statues - they idealized the model. It was a tendency not without its dangers, for, if the artist deliberately 'improves on' nature, his work may easily look man ered or insipid. But if we look once more at Raphael's work, we see that he, at any rate, could idealize without any loss of vitality and sincerity in the result" ...
This posting compares and contrasts three famous paintings.