Each student will write a 2-3 page paper on one original work of art in the greater Washington, D.C. area (or your local city). This can be any kind of object created in any period; the only requirement is that it be something that you can view carefully yourself. You may not write on something that you have not seen personally during the course of the semester.
This is not a research paper. Your observations should be illuminated by the lectures, assignments and readings. It is important to choose something that you can discuss without doing further research (unless you would like to do outside research – you are welcome to do so ??” on the internet, books, etc). If you do use outside sources, they must be properly credited. Please use MLA format.
A typical paper will spend the first page (or less) describing the art work in detail using terms learned in class (ie. sculpture in the round, complementary colors, iconography, etc.) and possibly providing some background about the artist (but not required).
The rest of the paper should be spent comparing/contrasting the object to a work that we discussed in class (or that is in the textbook) ??” talking about how the works are similar and/or different. If you decide to do outside research you may want to talk about the work’s significance ??” how it may be a political statement or an shows an innovative style, for example.
**I would like my paper to be about the lion statues outside of The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC (which I saw) and the Chimera of Arezzo. According to the book, the Chimera of Arezzo is Etruscan art from the Classical Art (480-350 BCE). The only term that I could find from the book pertaining to this piece of art of chimera which is a monster invited by the Greeks that has a lion’s head and body and a snake’s tail.**
If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thank you so much in advanced:)
