Description

Paper/Project assignments
Students will choose to either write a traditional research paper or choose to do one of the alternative projects listed below.
–Research paper: one aspect of one painting, sculpture, decorative arts object or building (ie. patronage of the Doni Tondo, symbolism in the Medici crystal ewer, etc. See list at bottom for more suggestions.), conduct scholarly research on it, and write a 5- page paper, complete with citations, and with a bibliography and relevant images appended to it.
If you have an idea for another type of project, please see me (or email me) about it as soon as possible (the latest date to talk to me about it is October 1). You should submit a description of your project, basic outline and 5 sources for it on Tuesday, October 21.
The first version of your paper or project writeup is due October 29 for peer review.
You can then revise them and turn them back in on November 12 by 11:59 pm—along with the first version of your paper (the version with your peer reviewer) Research papers must be turned in on or before the due dates. Your research paper will be lowered by a letter grade for each day it is late. Therefore, if your assignment is four or more days late, it will automatically receive an “F”.
Expectations:
If you are writing a paper:
Papers should be adequately researched, using reliable, scholarly, and preferably peer- reviewed sources. You should aim to use a variety of sources–journals and books! Ordinarily, you would want to avoid sources published before, say, 1970, unless it is a source still viewed as a fundamental source on the artist/patron/work. You can tell if it is seen as such by looking at the citations in the recent (1990 to today) articles you read and seeing if it is always listed there.

Avoid non-scholarly sources like the plague. Seriously. This is a danger of the online world. The papers that result from reading bad sources are painful.
Interlibrary loans are your friend, but they take time to deliver to you. Anticipate this and start early.
I do not necessarily anticipate that you will make a new discovery in your paper or formulate a personal opinion. In fact, I would probably avoid either (and especially the latter) for this paper.
I do expect for papers to be beautifully written, well organized, interesting and smart. Do not ramble to try to fill up the pages. I can tell.
If you panic about any step of the research and writing process, please write me and/or Daisy so we can help while there is still time. This means, to be clear, do not wait until the last minute and tell me you can’t find sources on Raphael. I will cry.
I have a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism. I do check and I can spot it from a mile away. If you are unsure if you are plagiarizing something, find out before you turn it in. You can ask me, consult UVM’s academic integrity policy, and contact the Writing Center about it.
A full bibliography must also be included at the end of the paper, even if you include a full citation in the body of the paper (footnotes or endnotes). You must also include any images you reference in your paper.
I will not grade papers that have not been correctly cited or inadequately proofread (ie. you will receive a 0 for this portion of your grade). This is true for the first version and for the final versions of your papers.
Students MUST carefully cite their sources, using either footnotes or endnotes in the Chicago Manual style. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use parenthetic citations. They crush my soul.
If you are doing another sort of project, please see me so we can discuss expectations and anticipated outcomes for your project. We should meet to discuss it by October 7 (your deadline for communicating to me what your project will be is October 1).
Suggestions for traditional art history papers are below. For these, you would want to choose one aspect about the work that you find interesting (symbolism, patronage, etc.) to focus on. But feel free to do any other art object made in or present in (collected or otherwise acquired) 16th century Italy! Think about ceramics, precious objects, cameos, medals, vases, feather paintings, automata, votive objects, talismans, tapestries, etc. in addition to sculpture, painting, and architecture. Be adventurous! Do not just pick Leonardo because he’s easy to find material on!

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’ Benci Michelangelo, Bruges Madonna Raphael, St. George and the Dragon Fra Bartolomeo, Vision of St. Bernard Luca Signorelli, Court of Pan
Piero di Cosimo, Hunting Scene
Bramante, Belvedere Courtyard
Raphael, Sistine Madonna
Sodoma, Marriage of Alexander and Roxana, Villa Farnesina Sebastiano del Piombo, Flagellation
Properzia de’ Rossi, Chastity of Joseph
Andrea del Sarto, Punishment of the Gamblers
Pontormo, Vertumnus and Pomona
Perino del Vaga, Fall of the Giants
Domenico Beccafumi, Fall of the Rebel Angels
Parmigianino, Vision of St. Jerome
Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, Madonna di S. Biagio Giorgione, Enthroned Madonna (“Castelfranco Madonna”) Titian, Entombment
Titian, David and Goliath
Lorenzo Lotto, Sacra Conversazione
Bramantino, Adoration of the Magi
Paris Bordone, A Fisherman Delivering the Ring
Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrait of the Artist’s Three Sister