ARTH 209 - Renaissance Art

This guide provides recommended research tools and skills for your ARTH 209 research assignment.

Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-1498, via Digital Image Database

The attached brainstorming worksheet may give you some ideas.

When analyzing a work of art, it's helpful to develop and apply a list of relevant questions. Consider:

• Subject matter - What is being depicted? (May require researching a related place, figure or event - e.g. from religion or mythology)
• Material and form - What is the size, shape, line, texture, color, etc.? How do these affect the way you "see" the subject?
• Social and historical contexts - When, where, and why was the work made?
• What were the artist's intentions (if known)?

Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing About Art provides many useful examples of analytical questions and is a required/recommended text for most Art History courses.

If you would like in-depth help with research, make an appointment with your librarian by completing the online form at the link below: