1. Looking at Art – Formal Analysis paper 1.go to a museum; spend time looking at the art and choose one work that especially interests you -- something you respond to immediately, or that you want to know more about 2.take careful notes: A.what is the work made of? B.what are the elements in it -- figures? landscape? abstract shapes? colors? three-dimensional forms? C.what specific elements or qualities of the work make you respond in a particular way? D.what do you notice first about the work? is there something that takes more time to discover about it? E.does the work raise questions in your mind? how might you begin to answer them? F.write down any information about the work that the museum provides (label, brochure – you can check the museum website too) Dartmouth writing program website

2. 3.begin to structure your paper. Make a simple outline, starting with an introductory statement, then a list of the points you plan to cover. Consider the terms we have been using in class to discuss works of art, and use your discussion of those ideas as the body of your paper: a.medium -- painting (what kind? oil, tempera, watercolor, etc.); sculpture (what kind? marble, bronze, wood, etc.); print (what kind? etching, engraving, woodcut, etc.) b.overall composition -- how is the work structured? does it use a specific type of perspective? or some other form of organization? c.lines or forms -- are they thick or thin? rounded or flat? heavy or light? rough or smooth-surfaced? what effect does this have on the work as a whole? d.Color e.Light f.Space g.style and context -- can you say something about the general approach the artist takes in this work? can you relate the work to the period in which the artist was working? 4. lastly, consider how all the points you have discussed work together: how do these formal elements -- the things you can see -- relate to or provoke your own response to the work? how might someone have thought about or responded to the work when it was made?

3. When to Cite Your Sources 1.Always! (or almost always) 2.When you repeat or summarize a statement made by someone else, in any format, such as a book, an article, a website, a label on a museum wall, or a brochure 3.When you quote directly (with quotation marks) or indirectly (summarizing) what someone else has written or said 4.Not when you make a statement based on something you yourself can see, or a conclusion you have drawn yourself. Generally not when you make a statement of widely accepted fact, like the name of an artist or the date of a work, unless that “fact” is open to debate, and you want to make clear which side of the debate you are on 5.For what a footnote should look like and include, see examples like those in the reading by Maryan Ainsworth, “Facsimile in Early Netherlandish Painting,” or consult Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art, or the Chicago Manual of Style online guide: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

4. Raphael, The School of Athens, fresco in the Stanza della Segnatura,1509- 1511 Giorgio Ghisi, copy after Raphael’s The School of Athens, engraving, 1550 (described on Dartmouth Writing Program website as example of formal analysis)

5. Master of the Embroidered Foliage, The Virgin and Child Enthroned, c. 1500. Oil on wood, 38 ¾ x 26 in. (The Clark)

6. website

7. Jan van Eyck, The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, c. 1433-34. Oil on wood, 26 x 24 3/8 in. (Louvre, Paris)

8. Rogier van der Weyden, Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin, c. 1435-1440. Oil and tempera on wood, 4’ 6 1/8” X 3’ 7 5/8”. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

9. Circle of Rogier van der Weyden, Virgin with the Blessing Child, c. 1440-50. Silverpoint, 8 ½ x 5 1/3 in. (Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam)

10. Raphael, Madonna and Child with the Infant Baptist (The Garvagh Madonna), c. 1509-10. Oil on wood, 38.9 x 32.9 cm (National Gallery, London)

11. Infrared reflectogram mosaic of Raphael, The Garvagh Madonna

12. Infrared reflectogram detail of Raphael, The Garvagh Madonna

15. Leonardo da Vinci, The Madonna of the Rocks, c. 1483-85. Oil on wood, transferred to canvas, 6 ft. 8 in. x 4 ft. (Musee du Louvre, Paris) Leonardo da Vinci, The Madonna of the Rocks, c. 1491-99; finished 1506-1508. Oil on wood, 6 ft. 3 in x 4 ft. (National Gallery, London)

16. Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, known as the Mona Lisa, c. 1503-1506. Oil on panel, 30 x 21 in. (Louvre Museum, Paris)

17. article