Leonardo da Vinci geniality Global Studies Art & Historical Analysis

Formal Analysis
This assignment requires a detailed description of the "formal" qualities of the art object (formal as in "related to the form," not a black tie dinner). In other words, you're looking at the individual design elements, such as composition (arrangement of parts of or in the work), color, line, texture, scale, proportion, balance, contrast, and rhythm. Your primary concern in this assignment is to attempt to explain how the artist arranges and uses these various elements. Usually you have to go and look at the object for a long time and then write down what you see. As you will quickly see from the page length of the assignment, your instructor expects a highly detailed description of the object. You might struggle with this assignment because it is hard to translate what you see into words -- don't give up, and take more notes than you might think you need. Why would your instructor ask you to do this assignment? First, translating something from a visual language to a textual language is one of the most vital tasks of the art historian. Most art historians at some point describe fully and accurately their objects of study in order to communicate their ideas about them. You may already have found this tendency helpful in reading your textbook or other assigned readings. Second, your instructors realize that you are not accustomed to scrutinizing objects in this way and know that you need practice doing so. Instructors who assign formal analyses want you to look--and look carefully. Think of the object as a series of decisions that an artist made. Your job is to figure out and describe, explain, and interpret those decisions and why the artist may have made them. Ideally, if you were to give your written formal analysis to a friend who had never seen the object, s/he would be able to describe or draw the object for you or at least pick it out of a lineup. In writing a formal analysis, focus on creating a logical order so that your reader doesn't get lost. Don't ever assume that because your instructor has seen the work, they know what you are talking about. Here are a couple of options:

summarize the overall appearance, then describe the details of the object describe the composition and then move on to a description of the materials used (acrylic, watercolor, plaster) begin discussing one side of the work and then move across the object to the other side

describe things in the order in which they draw your eye around the object, starting with the first thing you notice and moving to the next

Some instructors want your formal analysis to consist of pure description with little or no interpretation. In this case, you should describe your object and explain how these formal elements contribute to the work as a whole. Others will expect you to go further and comment on the significance of what you have observed. Find out which way your instructor wants you to write your formal analysis in your particular assignment. Most art historians include formal analysis at some point in their essays, so there are a lot of examples to look at in the textbook and other readings, but you will probably have to be more in-depth than they are.

SAMPLE ANYSIS: the Mona Lisa

Art Analysis:
Description: Describe subject matter - people, objects, symbols, action setting. What do you see in the artwork? Describe the woman, where she is seated, how she is dressed, her body posture, her physical features and facial expression. The Mona Lisa is a portrait. The relaxed, threequarter pose is different from the stiff, profile portraits that were the norm at this time.

What is in the background? describe the landscape and geographic characteristics - hills, mountains, water and roads. Speculate on where the setting might be located. Do you have an idea about the time of this artwork? Is anything happening in the painting? Although there is no overt action, that Mona's eyes and her mysterious smile indicate internal or psychological action. What colors, lines, shapes, textures do you see? Do they relate to your first impression? The muted colors, the dark colors of Mona's dress and hair contrasted with the lighter background landscape. Notice the luminous quality of Mona's face and hands. Focus on details, such as the repeated lines on the sleeves of her garment, the curving lines of the roads, the oval shape of her face, the circular lines of trees and the jagged triangles of the mountains. Perhaps the most important line in the image is the subtle curve of her mouth. How do you think this artwork was made? You may consider the particular type of paint used - in this case the new oil medium. There are no sharp outlines in this work. Leonardo pioneered sfumato or the layering of thin, translucent glazes. He compared this to "smoke" - suggesting that the forms seems to melt and blend together without definite edges. Formal Analysis: How is the work organized? What is the most important part of the painting? What is the focal point? Why do you think so? The woman's hands and face stand out because they are light and luminous in contrast to her dark clothing and hair. The composition is triangular. Another important aspect of the work is the use of perspective, with all lines leading to a single vanishing point behind Mona Lisa's head. The horizon line is repeated in the railing behind the figure. The repetition of light draws the viewer's eye around the painting, but always back to the face and hands. Formal Characterization: the overall impression or expressiveness (the mood of feeling) How would you describe the mood or feeling of this painting? Why do you think so? The work can be depicted as intriguing, mysterious, haunting, sad, tentative, content or a range of other descriptions. The important thing here is to state what you see that

provides evidence for their opinion. For example, the subtle colors and tones may support a sad or pensive characterization. Interpretation: what is the meaning? What is the artwork about? What is the artist trying to communicate? Ask students to consider everything they have discussed from the visual clues in the work to offer an interpretation. For example, students may focus on the famous smile.

Why is she smiling? Possible responses: I think she's smiling because she has a secret; I think she's smiling because she's happy; I think she's smiling because she thinks she's better than everyone. These are all projections of meaning based on visual qualities. Expand these assumptions by referring to other qualities in the artwork - her placement and posture, the background, her clothing. For example, if you think Mona Lisa is arrogant you can point to the fact that she sits proudly, clothed in a luxurious fabric and is sitting in front of a beautiful landscape that she could own. Others may think that her facial expression- the direction of her eyes and the smile, are what creates the effect of intrigue and mystery. The Mona Lisa is 16th century oil painting created by the renowned Leonardo da Vinci. The work of art depicts an enigmatic woman gazing at the viewer, and it is said that if you move across the room while looking into her eyes, theyll follow you. It is definitely one of the most popular paintings worldwide and has been the center of many artistic, religious, and theoretical debates. The French government currently owns the Mona Lisa and it is featured at the Musee du Louvre in Paris. The painting can also be referred to as La Gioconda or La Joconde. The name of the painting stems from the name of the woman in the portrait, Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy businessman in Florence, Italy named Francesco del Giocondo. Mona means my lady or madam in modern Italian, so the title is simply Madam Lisa. Art historians agree that Leonardo da Vinci likely began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503, and completed it within 4 years. In 1516 the King of France, King Francois, bought the painting and it is thought that after Leonardos death the painting was cut down. Some speculators think that the original had columns on both sides of the lady, whereas other art critics believe that the painting was never cut down in size. It has been suggested that there were 2 versions of the Mona Lisa painting, but many historians reject the second version. The duplicate copy can be found at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. After the French revolution the painting was moved to the Louvre, and Napoleon had it placed in his bedroom for a short time before it was returned to the Louvre. The popularity of the Mona Lisa increased in the mid 19th century because of the Symbolist

movement. The painting was thought to encompass a sort of feminine mystique. In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The art thief hid in a broom closet until the museum closed, stole the painting, hid it under his jacket and walked out the front door. Eduardo de Valfierno was the mastermind behind the theft and has planned to make copies of the original and sell them as the real thing. Eventually, in 1913, he was caught when trying to sell the original to a Florence art dealer. The Mona Lisa is most famous for her facial expression, her enigmatic smile and da Vincis mastering of tone and color in the painting. There is much mythology and interpretations relating to the painting that mystify the world. Many art critics and art history buffs suggest that the Mona Lisa is actually a portrait of da Vinci himself in feminine form. In addition, most viewers see the meaning behind Mona Lisas smile very differently.

Additional info on Mona Lisa

According to Louvre Curator Jean-Pierre Cuzin, "The entire history of portraiture afterwards depends on the Mona Lisa. If you look at all the other portraits not only of the Italian Renaissance, but also of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries if you look at Picasso, at everyone you want to name, all of them were inspired by this painting. Thus it is sort of the root, almost, of occidental portrait painting." In a break with the Florentine tradition of outlining the painted image, Leonardo perfected the technique known as sfumato, which translated literally from Italian means "vanished or evaporated." Creating imperceptible transitions between light and shade, and sometimes between colors, he blended everything "without borders, in the manner of smoke," his brush strokes so subtle as to be invisible to the naked eye. Leonardo was fascinated by the way light falls on curved surfaces. The gauzy veil, Mona Lisa's hair, the luminescence of her skin all are created with layers of transparent color, each only a few molecules thick, making the lady's face appear to glow, and giving the painting an ethereal, almost magical quality. "Today's art critics call attention to the painting's mystery and harmony," says Cuzin. "But the first art historians to describe it emphasized its striking realism, pointing out 'the lips that smile' and 'the eyes that shine.'" Giorgio Vasari, for example, wrote in his early biography of da Vinci, Lives of the Painters: "As art may imitate nature, she does not appear to be painted, but truly of flesh and blood. On looking closely at the pit of her throat, one could swear that the pulses were beating." The realism of his painting is a result of Leonardo's diverse scientific observations. From the study of human anatomy he developed a mathematical system for determining size in space, perspective that is incorporated in the way Mona Lisa's torso, head and eyes are each turned a little more toward the viewer. Da Vinci also observed differences between the subject and objects in the background, and used aerial perspective to create the illusion of depth: the farther something is in the distance, the smaller the scale, the more muted the colors and the less detailed the outlines. "Leonardo has studied the sky, the elements, the atmosphere, and the light. He takes the approach of a scientist, but translates it into the painting with superb delicacy and finesse. For him the painting doesn't count. What counts is the knowledge," observes Cuzin. "In the same

painting we move from soft places like the clouds to areas of extreme intricacy and fine detail. For example, around the neckline of the lady's dress we have delicate interlacing embroidery. The contrast of these different areas creates a cohesion that is very rare in painting." All this we now take for granted. The Mona Lisa looks so natural, and so familiar, that we forget how innovative the painting was at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

Even the use of landscape as background was a departure from tradition; Leonardo saw creative and fictional possibilities in it. "The background may be a representation of the universe, with mountains, plains and rivers. Or possibly it is both reality and the world of dream. One could suppose that the landscape doesn't exist, that it is the young woman's own dream world." (Cuzin)