This paper is based on your viewing experience of ONE work of art from the time period and eras of this class (Ancient Art History).  You will find Ancient works of art at the following museums: L.A. County Museum of Art in Los Angeles or the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades. You will, in fact, be doing the “research” for the paper in front of the work of art.  Plan accordingly and take extensive notes.  The goal of the paper is to take the skills and information you have been acquiring during the course of the semester and apply them to the work.

The artwork I chose is "The Hope Herakles" from Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The paper should be between three and four pages, typed, standard one-inch margins with font no larger than 12 point. **Papers under 1200 words will NOT receive a passing grade.**
(The terminologies can be found in the file I uploaded ART HISTORY BASICS)

Suggested Issues to Address (although not all issues will be significant or relevant):

What is the subject matter (iconography) depicted? Is it a devotional or a secular work?  Why would the artist, patron, or viewer be interested in a depiction of this subject?  Have we studied any versions of the same subject in class, and if so how does this work compare to them?
How has the artist used the formal elements of painting or sculpture to render the subject? Consider light and shadow, color, depiction of space, motion and texture, narrative techniques.
What was the political, religious, or social context in which this work was created?
How does the work affect you as a twenty-first-century viewer? Is it a pleasing composition?  Does the artist demonstrate skill or does the work seem provincial?
Is it an effective and persuasive rendering of the subject?

What is the medium, i.e., oil on canvas, and is it unusual? Consider whether or not the medium is significant to the interpretation of the work, i.e., was it expensive or unusually expressive?
What is the format and scale of the work?
What kind of larger whole might it have been a part of?
Can you deduce the original location of the work from its iconography and format?
Who were the patron, artist, and/or viewer?

What do the iconography and intended location of the work tell you about the work’s function?
Do you think it was intended for public or private consumption? Who might the audience have been?  Can you interpret the meaning that the art once held for its original intended audience?

This is not intended to be a research paper.  You may include information from the label of the painting if you wish, though you must state that this is where you found the information in question.  If the iconography is unfamiliar to you, you may research it a little, either in a bible, or in an iconography book.  (See for example: Hall, James.  Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, 1974.)