Description:
This paper is to be a concentrated visual analysis of the work: Calling of St. Matthew by Luca Giordano (17th century).
(https://www.library.georgetown.edu/special-collections/art/guac/Giordano)
Its purpose is to examine the work carefully and to find suitable words with which to articulate its appearance. This is more than a simple description: you are working to convey the distinctive visual character of a work.
Be sure to identify the work early in the paper. Mention salient physical characteristics, including the medium and approximate size. Then analyze carefully, noting the basic subject matter (landscape? portrait? etc.) and the ways in which the artist has approached it. Analysis should emphasize those elements or qualities that seem to define the work most essentially.
Discuss things such as:
– Medium and technique: how are materials manipulated to produce certain effects (e.g. roundness, textures, depth, light and shadow, weight, rhythms, etc.)?
– Composition: how has the artist arranged the work? How would you characterize significant relationships among figures, objects, places, or between such elements and the overall shape or structure of the work? Is it composed in a way that suggests a single point of view? Does it seem to invite particular kinds of attention or approach from a viewer?
– Scale: does the size of the work shape its effect or meaning? Is the scale of figures or other elements especially notable? Do differences in proportions among elements contribute to a certain effect?
– Shape, line, space, color, texture, etc.: are one or more of these elements of representation handled for particular results? Are there noteworthy relationships between the surface of the work and its overall contour? Do actual or depicted surfaces evoke one’s sense of light, touch, etc. in some distinctive way? Is space represented or implied? To what effect? If there are patterns or decorative elements, where are they placed and how do they contribute to the effect?
Notice that a formal analysis does not deal with such things as the culture in which a work was produced, its artist, its meaning, its function, its value, its patronage, etc. Even subject matter—such as a narrative or the meaning of a character—should not be dwelled upon. Your analysis is to be of the physical object or image and the decisions that shaped it. While this may invite you to make some judgments about its effects—e.g. about tranquil rhythms, or an agitated contour, or maybe a contemplative mood—avoid writing about entirely subjective responses (such as elaborate associations, projections, or memories) that might arise for you.
Throughout, be specific about your observations. If you call the object or some element of it “realistic” or “soft” or “confrontational,” explain how this is achieved. Write clearly and think about how best to organize your thoughts.
This formal analysis requires no research beyond the thoughtful study of the work itself –not a reproduction of it.