via GIPHY by Kiszkiloszki

Analysis of a Painting: the principles

In order to understand the meaning of images, you need to know the terminology of visual language. Professionals specialized in creating visual content, such as artists, architects, filmmakers, and photographers, or those who study images, such as scholars from art history, iconology, and semiotics, are trained to observe such specific features.

In this Smarthistory video, art historians Steve Zucker and Beth Harris offer an analysis of a well-known painting by Francisco de Goya about the Spanish uprising against the Napoleonic occupation in 1808. The painting is titled "The Third of May, 1808," and depicts a retaliation on innocent Spanish civilians by French troops. It was painted by Goya in 1814.

In the following video, Zucker and Harris first discuss the painting through the visual principles of art history, followed by an elaboration on the social and cultural context of the work of art and its author. Watch the video and note down the key elements of the analysis that are shown in the upper right-hand corner. You will need them to perform your own analysis in the upcoming assignment.

Smarthistory - Art historical analysis (painting), a basic introduction using Goya's Third of May, 1808. By Zucker and Harris

Exercise 1: Analysis of a Painting

Step 1.
Apply the principles explained by Zucker and Harris to an image of a painting of your choice that you can find on the web.

You can also watch the video-essay created by artist and filmmaker Vugan Efendi called Film Meets Art. In this essay, the two are placed beside each other, with no further comment other than piano music by composer and musician Gio Galanti. If you want, you can use one of the eight paintings used in this video essay. There are two other compositions; Film Meets Art II, and Film meets Art III.

Film Meets Art by Vugar Efendi

Step 2.
Write a short text (about 400 words) about a painting of your choice on the basis of its formal properties, in the same way Zucker and Harris interpreted Goya’s painting. Try to control the urge to look up background information about the painting on the web. Trust your ability to derive knowledge from visual content by simply looking, seeing, describing, and analysing.

Step 3.
After describing the formal properties of your painting, discuss the subject matter and historical context. If you need to look up more information about the subjects in the painting and the historical context of the piece, feel free to look up some more information on the web. Describe your search strategy- whether you used Google, or Wikipedia, etc. -  and write a further 400 words about the subject matter as well as the historical and cultural context of the painting in order to finish your entire analysis.

Example analysis

When you have finished and uploaded your own analysis, you can download the following file to compare your own analysis with. The Padlet below has the same answers but presented in a different format.

DOWNLOAD: Example Analysis of a Painting

Example analysis