BRIEF ASSIGNMENT 1: CLOSE VISUAL ANALYSIS OF A PAINTING FROM THE UFFIZI GALLERIES OR THE BRITISH COLLECTIONS
You will be provided with two list of paintings (Uffizi Galleries and British Collections) to choose from. All the paintings will be illustrated during the “Fashion & Power in Renaissance Italy” and the “Fashion & Power in 16th and 17th Century Britain” sessions.
Your written analysis should be submitted to Turnitin on Monday 22nd February 9:00am CEST.
Your first assignment is a 750-1000 words close visual analysis of a painting (3 pages – with additional pages permitted for illustrations and bibliography). You should choose a painting from the lists provided (NYU Classes/Resources/Assignments). You should draw on a range of academic sources to support and develop the ideas you discuss (your assigned reading in session 2 and 3 and further reading in Classes/Resources/ Assignment can help you here). You may use readings from the list but you are expected to find additional scholarly readings on your own.
In your close visual analysis you should consider the following:
• Historical and social context
• Use of portraits to convey messages to the viewers
• Use of clothes and accessories as a visual way to display status, power and wealth
• Description of the dress, textiles, accessories and colors featured in the painting
• Meanings attributed to pattern, colors, precious stones, accessories etc.
• A short explanation on the relationship between the garment/accessory portrait in the painting
and the chosen contemporary garment/accessory
Your written essay must include one high quality image of your painting. You should also include an image of a contemporary garment/accessory that in your opinion relates to the ones portrayed in your chosen painting (perhaps through silhouette, patterns, fabrics, color palette, etc.).
All your images must have full captions providing the following information:
Figure Number. Creator’s name. Title/Description of image (in italics). Date. Medium (Oil Painting, Black and White Photograph etc). Source (where did you find the image).
You should also provide a full bibliography to acknowledge all your sources.
You can find instructions on how to begin planning a research essay as well as databases and citation tools in some videos provided by NYU Florence Writing Center and Library uploaded in NYU Classes/Guided Research Resources.
ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR SOURCES
QUOTATIONS
If you quote a sentence taken from a book/article/ essay or website you should mention it:
“White, chosen for magnificent garments (…) alluded on the one hand to jubilation and on the other to the primary of the feminine virtues: chastity and modesty” (Orsi Landini, pp. 27-28)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
All sources cited in your paper must be listed in a separated attached page to the end of the text. Remember that bibliography has to be in alphabetical order (author’s last name). If books/essays/article are consulted on line please provide the link (and check if it works!). You can use the bibliography style you are used to (MLA, APA, Chicago Style) as long as you mention the following information:
BOOK
Author’s last name and name, title of the text, place and year of publication:
Currie, Elizabeth. Fashion and Masculinity in Renaissance Florence. London, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016.
CHAPTER IN AN EDITED COLLECTION
Author’s last name and name, title of the essay, title of the book, editor, place and year of publication, page number:
Reynolds, Anne. “Visual Representations”. A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Renaissance, edited by E. Currie, London-New York, Bloomsbury Academic, 2017, pp. 153-164.
ARTICLE
Author’s last name and name, title of the article, title of review/magazine, year of publication, page number(s):
Braun, Emily. “Futurist Fashion: Three Manifestos”. Art Journal, vol. 54, n. 1, 1995, pp. 34-41. WEBSITE
Author’s last name and name (when available), title of the article, website’s name, year of publication on-line, page number (when available), link, date you accessed:
Lugli, Emanuele. “Tear That Dress Off: Cinderella (1950) and Disney’s Critique of Postwar Fashion”. Bright Lights, 15 February 2018. https://brightlightsfilm.com/tear-that-dress-off-cinderella-1950-and- disneys-critique-of-postwar-fashion/. Accessed [date accessed]
IMAGE CAPTIONS
These must contain:
Figure Number. Creator’s name. Title/Description of image in italic. Date. Medium (Oil Painting, Black and White Photograph etc). Source (where did you find the image).
For instance:
Figure 1. Piero della Francesca, The Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Federico of Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, c. 1473-75, oil on wood. Florence, Uffizi Galleries.
