Comparative Visual Analysis of Two Paintings of Animals
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Assignment
Conduct a comparative visual analysis of two artworks that contain depictions of animals, both selected from one of the five thematic clusters given below (see The Writing Process). Using the specific visual evidence you have collected from your careful analysis of each image, construct an interpretive thesis about the way the painters treat animals, human figures, objects, and the surrounding environment. How do iconographic and formal elements of the paintings posit a certain kind of viewer? What “epistemic technologies” must that viewer marshal to make sense of these images?
Your final paper will be about 5–6 pages in length and will be worth 35% of your writing grade.
Learning Goals
- Make specific, clear, arguable claims
- Produce unified, cohesive body paragraphs that contain arguable topic sentences, well-selected evidence from primary sources, and fluid transitions between ideas
- Develop a rhetorically-effective introduction and conclusion
- Adopt the appropriate stance, style, and genre conventions of visual analysis (including discussion of iconography, formalism, and viewer engagement)
- Conduct a comparative reading of two primary sources (paintings)
- Practice process-oriented writing and learn flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading drafts while also reflecting on the process of writing itself
Required Reading
Before you begin brainstorming for this assignment, make sure you have read the following:
Herbert, James. “Visual Analysis.” Digital Supplement to Humanities Core Handbook: Animal/Culture 2019-2020. XanEdu, 2019. [PDF]
The Writing Process
In the fall quarter of Humanities Core, our focus in expository academic writing was the analysis of a single textual primary source: first in a rhetorical analysis of a medieval fable and then in a literary analysis of an early modern playtext. Now we will turn to a new kind of close “reading”—or, better yet, close looking—by asking you to systematically examine two images and formulate an argument about their visual logic and how they relate to one another.
You will first need to select two artworks for comparative analysis from one of the clusters below. Spend some time browsing the various images and brainstorming about how you might compare and contrast the iconography, style, and viewer engagement between the various paintings in each cluster.
You must be logged in using your @uci.edu account in order to view the images. Reload page or load the image folder page.
1. Detailed Depiction, Careful Classification
Audubon, John James. “American Flamingo,” from The Birds of America, 8 vols., 1827–38, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Hand-colored engraving and aquatint on Whatman wove paper, 34 ½ x 23″ (88 x 59 cm).
Hoefnagel, Joris. Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis) [Rational Animals and Insects (Fire)] vol. 1, plate 1, , c. 1575–80, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Watercolor and gouache on vellum, 5⅝ x 7 ¼” (14.3 x 18.4 cm).
[Note: The object of analysis for the Joris Hoefnagel option is the painting of Petrus Gonsalvus and his wife. To understand this image, however, one must examine it in relation to the other images in the larger four-volume work in which it appears, Hoefnagel’s The Four Elements (Animalia rationalia et insecta [ignis], Animalia quadrupedia et reptilia [terra], Animalia aquatilia et conchiliata [aqua], and Animalia volatilia et amphibia [aier]). The Gonsalvus image appears in the volume on Rational Animals and Insects (Fire). The other Hoefnagel images provided here are representative samples; you can view more of the series through the National Gallery of Art.]
Peale, Charles Willson. The Artist in His Museum. 1822, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Oil on canvas, 103 ¾ x 80″ (264 x 203 cm).
Wyeth, Andrew. Soaring. 1950, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vt. Tempera on masonite, 48 x 87″ (122 x 221 cm).
2. Ovidian Tales
Boucher, François. The Abduction of Europa. 1747, Louvre Museum, Paris. Oil on canvas, 63 ½ x 76 ½” (161 x 194 cm).
Lastman, Pieter. Juno Discovering Jupiter with Io. 1618. National Gallery, London. Oil on panel, 21 ½ x 30 ¾” (54 x 78 cm).
Snyders, Frans and Theodoor van Thulden. Orpheus and the Animals. 1636–38, Prado Museum, Madrid. Oil on canvas, 76 ¾ x 170″ (195 x 432 cm).
Titian. The Death of Actaeon. c. 1559–75, National Gallery, London. Oil on canvas, 70 ½ x 80″ (179 x 198 cm).
3. Wild Lions, Exoticized People
Delacroix, Eugène. The Lion Hunt [study]. 1855, National Museum, Stockholm. Oil on canvas, 22 ½ x 29″ (57 x 74 cm).
Gérôme, Jean-Léon. The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer. 1883, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Oil on canvas. 34 ½ x 59″ (88 x 150 cm).
Rousseau, Henri. The Sleeping Gypsy. 1897, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Oil on canvas, 51 x 79″ (130 x 201 cm).
Rubens, Peter Paul. Daniel in the Lion’s Den. c. 1614–16, National Gallery, Washington D.C. Oil on canvas, 88 ¼ x 130″ (224 x 331 cm).
4. Peaceable Kingdoms
Bosch, Hieronymus. The Garden of Earthly Delights. 1490–1510, Prado Museum, Madrid. Oil on panel, 81 x 152″ (206 x 385 cm).
Brueghel the Elder, Jan and Peter Paul Rubens. The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man. c. 1615, Mauritshuis, The Hague. Oil on panel, 29 ¼ x 45″ (74 x 115 cm).
Hicks, Edward. Peaceable Kingdom. c. 1834, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Oil on canvas, 19 ¼ x 25 ½” (75 x 90 cm).
Savery, Roelant. Landscape with Animals (with Orpheus and the Thracian Women in the Background). c. 1628, Art History Museum, Vienna. Oil on panel, 13 ¾ x 19 ¼” (35 x 49 cm).
5. Belligerent Beasts
Courbet, Gustave. Spring Rut, The Battle of the Stags. 1861, Orsay Museum, Paris. Oil on canvas, 100 ½ x 199 ½” (355 x 507 cm).
Fyt, Jan. Eagles Attacking Ducks. 1650–60, Louvre Museum, Paris. Oil on canvas, 52 ¼ x 77″ (133 x 196 cm).
Rousseau, Henri. The Hungry Lion Attacking an Antelope. 1905, Bayeler Foundation, Basel. Oil on canvas, 78 ¾ x 118 ½” (200 x 301 cm).
Stubbs, George. A Lion Attacking a Horse. 1762, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. Oil on canvas, 96 x 131″ (244 x 333 cm).
Once you have selected your primary sources for this assignment, gather visual evidence from the two paintings using the guidelines described in Professor Herbert’s chapter on “Visual Analysis” [PDF]. The work of collecting visual evidence may be part of the prewriting work in your seminar; in any case, it is essential to formulating your thesis. Then, begin building your argument using the guidelines and examples in the “Visual Analysis” chapter.
Updated 14 January 2020
