Renaissance Art History

RESEARCH PAPER (150 points)
Spring 2020

Think about the process of writing your Final Paper this way:
There are several ways to write an effective research paper. For instance, you can start with a coherent and persuasive thesis statement or controlling question and then research supporting materials. This statement/question, placed usually at the end of the first paragraph but always on the first page, should answer two questions: (1) what are you researching and (2) why does it matter to you (and to your readers)? Alternately, you can start with the materials and work your way to staking out your position/asking your controlling question. Either way you find yourself approaching this project and its materials—newspaper archives, letters, documents, statistics or, in our case, works of visual art—you will eventually need to decide whether your position/question is interesting or valuable and then organize an answer in a way that will engross and enlighten a reader. This is the process that leads to the product known as a research paper.

Think back to your formal analyses, earlier in the semester. Follow the same process. Find the “thread” of your paper/story. What is it that you want to communicate to the reader? And yes, you can write about the same subject as your formal analyses, if that is what interests you.

Your research paper involves investigation of facts, development of ideas, and presentation of a coherent argument. In other words, your research paper should combine the formal analyses (please see previous guidelines), comparison (if you find it illuminating), and contextual analyses (please see more below) to investigate your question (conflict, issue, curiosity, innovation) that you formulated about your chosen artwork. The topic must relate to an artist or group of artists, works of art, architecture, or a stylistic development of the Renaissance. You may choose to address works in relation to political or social contexts, technological innovations, formal experimentation or other artistic fields (such as literature, poetry, theatre, dance, or music).

Contextual Analysis
What kind of original function might it have served? What sort of significance does the subject matter carry? Was the artist thought to have been an originator—doing something groundbreaking or new? And/or, what conventions is the artist following? Is there anything you have learned about the context of your object that helps illuminate the artist’s formal choices? Now you will do library research. Start with your book. Does your textbook have anything interesting to say about the period/style of the work you have chosen? Start generating a sense of the contextual picture in which your object operates/ed. Check your library website and look for academic articles on JSTOR, a great database of academic articles on any subject. You can access JSTORE from the library page.

PUTTING EVERYTHING TOGETHER:
The research paper will be 10-12 pages (not including the title page, images, and bibliography).
The images should be placed at the end of the paper. That is, after the last sentence of your writing. When you are referring to an image inside the text please put in parentheses (see figure 1, 2, …) The image(s) should be labeled Figure 1, Figure 2, etc., and include identification (Artist, Title, Date, Medium, and Provenance (location)) under the image. Use the following format when referring to an image in your paper: “Caravaggio uses the same composition in The Inspiration of St. Matthew (see Fig. 1).” On the page with the image, the identification (in the form of a caption under the image) should look like this: Figure 1: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Inspiration of Saint Matthew, 1602, oil on canvas, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome. (Notice that the work of art is underlined–italics are fine too, but be consistent within your paper!)
Papers must be written in Times New Roman, sized at 12-point font. The papers must be double-spaced and have 1″ margins at the sides and the top/bottom of each page. Do not try to adjust the margins or font size in order to reach the correct length – you must follow the guidelines listed below.
Each page must be numbered beginning with the first page of text, not the title page. In the header or footer of each page, include your last name and the respective page number. Example: Jones 4.
Bibliography should include at least 3 scholarly sources besides your textbook, and it should be placed at the end of your paper. For Bibliography do not cite Wikipedia or other online sources which are not academic sources. Use your textbook and three other academic sources. If you have any questions about bibliography, please do not hesitate to ask. Academic sources include art journals art dictionaries, exhibition catalogs or museums and galleries websites.
Description is important but it should be used to support a point you are trying to make.
You can use other artworks to support your arguments, but always come back to your initial subject. Do not waste sentences on unnecessarily or repetitive aspects.

A COMPLETE FINAL PAPER WILL HAVE:
Title page
10-12 written pages (following the above instructions)
Image/s (to be placed at the end of your paper)
Bibliography (3 scholarly sources besides your textbook)