1. HOW TO READ A VISUAL IMAGE – TUTORIAL
VOCABULARY
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
2. 1. Museum Label
• Author
• Title
• Date
• Category
• Technique / Material = e.g. a Painting: oil on canvas, fresco,
tempera on wood, watercolour, etching (acquaforte), engraving,
lithorgraph, drawing, chalks on paper, pastel on paper, stained
glass, mosaic,…; Sculpture: statue; relief , incision / carved stone,
marble, wood, bronze, ….
• Museum /Collection/Provenance
• Size / Dimensions / Mesurements
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
3. 2. DESCRIPTION – Suggestions
1. What information will we look for?
2. And how to organize them while
speaking and writing?
3. And what vocabulary?
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
4. 2. DESCRIPTION – Vocabulary – Suggestions
• Genre = portrait, self-portrait, still-life, landscape,
seascape, townscape, veduta, capriccio, historical
painting, religious subject, mythological painting, ….
• IDENTIFICATION of the figures, the meaning of the
action, how and why they interact in the context.
• Portraits: e.g. may be half-lenght, full-lenght, three-
quarter-lenght,bust / position: frontal, three-quarter
angled, in profile, seated, standing, leaning against
something,…
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
6. 2. DESCRIPTION – Vocabulary – Describing
Location – …and in 3D
foreground, middle ground, background, on the horizon,…
• In front of
• Behind
• Beyond
• Next to/beside
• On
• Above or Over?
• Below or Under?
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
7. 3. STYLE = the main characteristics.
• The use of light and where it comes from; the modeling of light and shade
as well
• The use of colour and texture: e.g. warm, cold, primary, complementary,….;
brushwork
• Forms and balance
• Lines;
• Shapes;
• The representation (or lack) of depth; roundness vs. flatness
• Dynamism or immobility;
• naturalism or antinaturalism
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
8. Vocabulary - Defining Lines
Regular lines
Lines in relation to each other
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
11. 4. CONCLUSIONS
•THE CONTEXT
•Why are all of these changes taking place?
•Occasion / Exhibition /Patrons / Aim / Feelings /
message / reaction of his/her contemporaries (the
public and the other artists at that time) / Hystory of
collecting / Condition / Restorations, …
•Kahoot!: assessment_1
CLIL - Liceo Agnesi Milano - a.s 2016-'17 Silvia Caldarini
Editor's Notes
DA PROPORRE DOPO AVER VISTO Basic Visual Analysys (7 min)
A sort of sum-up
TAKE SOME NOTES or MAKE SURE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT OUT THE
«Checklist» provided within the PPT slide
this is a brief tutorial on how to write a basic visual analysis
What information will we look for? And how to organize them while speaking and writing
And what vocabulary?
Author = painter, sculptor or architect name, his/her lifespan, country, region, the school/movement he/she comes from and his followers, pupils, assistants…
information included on the museum label
Category = Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Photography,…
Technique/Material = …stained glass (=coloured window glass), …relief (high-r or bas/low-r.).
Museum that it belongs to
Size / dimensions (of a painting) Mesurements (of a sculpture)
The description often starts from the left side of the painting and works towards the right as does in occidental (oksidental) writing: thus automatically the eye travels from left to wright.
Leaning= not straight / against something
For architecture description of the facade, of the plan, of architrectural elements: eg.: columns, cornice, arch, portal lintel, gable or tympanum, gallery, pillar, transept, apse, aisle, nave, porch, vault, choir, cupola or dome,…
The description often starts from the left side of the painting and works towards the right as does in occidental (oksidental) writing: thus automatically the eye travels from left to wright.
Leaning= not straight / against something
For architecture description of the facade, of the plan, of architrectural elements: eg.: columns, cornice, arch, portal lintel, gable or tympanum, gallery, pillar, transept, apse, aisle, nave, porch, vault, choir, cupola or dome,…
Describing location: what do you see in the painting?:
Describing location: what do you see in the painting?:
now it's time to analyze the stylistic features of the picture
Make your thesis: e.g. it looks classical, gothic, renaissance, impressionist… and analyze specific details that support your thesis
Light may come from the front, from behind, from the right or from the left, from above, from below or underneath the subject, or from the lower part/ it may be diffused, reflected, originated by a precise font /may be artificial or natural e.g. the light of sunrise or sunset, full-light. Nocturnal light).
It may convey the sense of volume mass, that makes figures seem physical and real
Brushwork = strokes made by a paint brush = tocco the particular style of the artist in putting paint onto the painting with the brush
Forms and balance: that is the way the masses are organized, and their distribution: e.g. pyramidal sheme, triangular, cross-shaped,…)
Lines: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, zig-zag, circular, spiral,…
Moreover, apart from vocabulary, you are expected to avoid pretty boring description: you should avoid pretty boring description! Avoid the laundry list approach to describing by choosing adjectives that reveals something about the personality of the work and what impression is the artist trying to make.
Moreover, apart from vocabulary, you are expected to avoid pretty boring description: you should avoid pretty boring description! Avoid the laundry list approach to describing by choosing adjectives that reveals something about the personality of the work and what impression is the artist trying to make.
let's place this picture in context
How the painting exemplifies the changes that are taking place in France and Europe at the enD of the century
