The Study of Art History The central aim of art history is to determine the original context of artworks. The study of history is vital to the study of Art.

Questions Art Historians Ask: How old is it? Chronology- the dating of art objects and buildings Physical evidence- reliably indicated an objects age Documentary evidence- helps pinpoint dates Visual evidence- hair, furniture, clothing styles Stylistic evidence-analysis of style: an artists distinctive manner of producing an object (the most unreliable method of dating an artwork)

What is its style? Period style-characteristic artistic manner of a specific time or culture “Archaic Greek” Regional Style-variations in style tied to geography Provenance-place of origin/former owner(s) Personal style-distinctive manner of artists

What is its subject? Narrative- the story. Types of artworks-Religious, historical, mythological, genre (daily life) portraiture, landscape, still life. Iconography “the writing of images” refers to the content or subject of an artwork, and the study of symbols, images that stand for other images or ideas. Attributes- identifying elements Personification- abstract ideas embodied in human form

Who made it? Can attribute or assign a work to someone based on knowledge of personal style: “the Andokides Painter” Connoisseur-an expert in assigning artworks to “the hand” of one artist rather than another School- not an educational institution- denotes the chronological, stylistic and geographic similarities (“Dutch School of the 17th c.)

Who Paid for it? Patrons- who paid for individual works that were possibly influenced why it looks the way it does. All modes of artistic production reveal the impact of patronage (religious works/Middle Ages)

The Words Art Historians Use Formal analysis: the visual analysis of artistic form