1. THE HISTORY OF ART: PART I
Professor Will Adams • wadams5@valenciacollege.edu
Online • Downtown Campus
Research Project Instructions
▪ For your research assignment, you will have a two-part project. For the first part, you will be tasked with
researching a piece of art and authoring a 4-page analysis essay about it. For the second part, you will be
creating a piece of art that reinterprets your assigned topic artwork in your own creative way.
▪ The following will guide you through the basic process you will use to create your reinterpretation:
1. You will be assigned a work of art or architecture by me (see list below).
2. Once you’ve received your topic, perform research on it.
i. For a 4-page research project, you should use no fewer than 6 credible sources.
ii. With the exception of the databases available through the College, another University or
College, or the public library, none of your sources may come from the Internet (i.e. Results
from a Google search).
4. After you’ve completed your research and have a good understanding of the piece of art, use what
you’ve learned to create your own interpretation of it.
i. You may, and in fact are encouraged to, change the medium from the original work of art
to your own.
i. For instance, if you choose a painting, you may reinterpret that as a painting, a
song, a film, etc.
ii. Be sure the medium you choose caters to your own abilities and interests, not the original
artist’s.
iii. Possible media to consider for your interpretation include photography, fashion design,
painting, dance, sculpture, modeling, film, or poetry.
i. Be creative and “think outside the box”!
ii. You will need to photograph your work for submission if is not written or a digital
file.
5. Finally, write a research paper that first discusses the original artwork, as you understand it from
your research.
i. This section should make up the bulk of your paper’s length – at least 3 pages.
ii. In addition, you should not use first- or second-person point-of-view when writing this
section of your paper – instead use the “academic third-person”. Instead of “I think that this
represents”, try using “One could interpret this to mean”.
iii. After analyzing the original artwork, then discuss your own interpretation within the final
page(s) of your essay. Be sure to explain your own perspective and artistic choices. This is
the only section of your paper in which you are allowed to use first-person point-of-view
(i.e. “After completing my research on Exekias, I concluded that…”).
iv. Collectively, the written body of your essay should total 4 full body pages.
v. Your text should be double-spaced, set in Times New Roman size 12 font, and have
standard 1” margins.
vi. Use proper MLA style citation for in-text citations, the Works Cited page, and the cover
page (refer to attached MLA style guide for help).
2. 6. One draft may be turned in for instructor feedback by July 12th
– this must be done via email at
wadams5@valenciacollege.edu.
7. Both the artistic and the written components of your project are due in on Sunday, July 26th
.
Topic Assignments by Student
Student Name Topic Assignment
Janusz Abeleda Artist unknown, Toreador (Bull Leaping) Fresco, c.
1,550 BCE, Minoan wall painting
Karina Aguirre Duccio di Buoninsegna, Betrayal of Jesus (detail
from the Maestám altarpiece), 1308-1311 CE, Late
Gothic painting
Michelle Alvarez Agesander, Polydorus, & Athenodorus of
Rhodes, Laocoön and his Sons, c. 150 BCE,
Hellenistic Greek sculpture
Jennifer Bianco Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation (detail from the
Arena Chapel frescoes), 1305-1306 CE, Gothic
fresco painting
Martez Brown Epigonos of Pergamon, The Dying Trumpeter
(AKA The Dying Gaul), c. 230 BCE, Hellenistic
Greek sculpture
Nahla Campbell Nicholas of Verdun, Sacrifice of Isaac (detail of the
Klosterneuburg Altar), 1181 CE, Gothic enamel &
metalwork
Dulce Cervantes Iktinos & Kallikrates, Parthenon, 447 BCE,
Classical Greek temple
Kevin Davis Rainier of Huy, Baptism of Christ, 1118 CE,
Romanesque baptismal font
Mikiyas Demise Artist unknown, The Erechtheion, c. 420 BCE,
Classical Greek temple
Wesley Garrett Gislebertus, Last Judgment, located at Saint-
Lazare, Autun, France, c. 1135-1120 CE,
Romanesque relief sculpture
Marcelo Goncalves Artist unknown, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, c.
425 CE, Byzantine architecture/mosaic
Tayah Guthrie Artist unknown, Dipylon Krater, c. 750-735 BCE,
Archaic Greek pottery
Taylor Hines Artist unknown, The Four Tetrarchs, c. 305 CE,
Late Roman sculpture
Mars Hutchins Kallikrates, Temple of Athena Nike, c. 427 BCE,
Classical Greek temple
Trinette Lam Artist unknown, The Aphrodite of Melos (AKA
Venus de Milo), c. 160 CE, Hellenistic Greek
sculpture
Brooke Lamothe Artist unknown, The Boxer of Quirinal (AKA Terme
Boxer), c. 330 BCE, Hellenistic Greek sculpture
3. Jamie Larose Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice, c. 540
BCE, Archaic Greek vase painting
Sarah Le Artist unknown, Statue of King Mycerinus (AKA
Menkaure) and His Wife, c. 2,515 BCE, Egyptian
sculpture
Samuel McIllwain Lysippos, Apoxyomenos, c. 330 BCE, Greek
sculpture
David Metellus Artist unknown, Palette of King Narmer, c. 3,150
BCE, Egyptian sculpture
Theron Nelson Artist unknown, Capitoline She-Wolf, c. 500 BCE,
Etruscan/Early Roman bronze sculpture
Pedro Nevarez Imhotep, Step Pyramid of King Djoser, c. 2,681
BCE, Egyptian architecture
Kim Nguyen Artist unknown, Augustus of Primaporta, c. 75 CE,
Roman marble sculpture
Destiny Nieves Pierre de Montreuil, Sainte-Chapelle, c. 1239 CE,
French Gothic Rayonnant architecture
Trinity Norton Artist unknown, Court of Justinian Mosaic at San
Vitale, c. 547 CE, Byzantine mosaic
Adriana Rivera Andino Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia
Sophia, 532-527 CE, Byzantine architecture
Maria Rocha Artist unknown, Maison Carrée, c. 16 BCE, Roman
architecture
Alani Soto Rosario Myron, Diskobolos (AKA Discus Thrower), c. 450
BCE, Classical Greek sculpture
Noah Stephens Vespasian, Colosseum (AKA Coliseum), 80 CE,
Roman architecture
Cheroky Williams Pythokritos of Rhodes, Nike of Samothrace (AKA
Winged Victory), c. 190 BCE, Hellenistic Greek
sculpture
