Visual Analysis

Chapter Overview and Introduction

Artists and art historians use a set of terminology to analyze works of art and architecture. The vocabulary presented in this chapter will be used throughout the entire textbook.

Visual analysis is a methodology to study the history of art. Being able to accurately describe a work of art can be difficult. We know what we see, but how do we put that into words? Visual analysis is your training to describe what you see. In the technique of visual analysis, discussion of historical context and iconography (symbolism) is set aside. Instead, the focus is on all the physical or formal qualities of an artwork. Often, visual analysis is called formal analysis. This is because the approach analyzes the formal properties within an artwork: line, shape, scale, color, pattern, texture, etc.

Focus Artworks

• Giovanni Bellini, Madonna of the Meadow, c. 1500, oil and egg on synthetic panel, transferred from wood

Term List

• Formal Analysis (also called Visual Analysis)
• Formal properties
• Scale
• Composition
• Foreground
• Background
• Pictorial space
• Overlapping
• Atmospheric perspective
• Linear perspective
• Orthogonal Lines
• Form
• Figurative form
• Curvilinear
• Rectilinear
• Line
• Contour line
• Color
• Light
• Chiaroscuro
• Tone
• Texture
• Veracity
• Pattern

How to do visual (formal) analysis

The following video demonstrates the technique of visual analysis as applied to the Renaissance painting Madonna of the Meadow by Giovanni Bellini. A Venetian painter who was part of the move to oil paint from tempera, Bellini was known for a serene and harmonious painting style.

Conclusion

Visual analysis is a skill. It takes practice and develops your visual literacy, which is an ability much needed in the 21^st century. Throughout the textbook, you will find “Practicing Visual Analysis” sections. In these sections, visual analysis will be written on a related artwork from the chapter. The provided analysis is designed to help you bring forward the technique of visual analysis as you read about artworks created in various times, places, and cultures. As you learn about the textbook’s focus artworks, consider how you might visually analyze them. Think about what terms are appropriate and how to apply them. For example, pictorial space applies to two-dimensional artworks where artists are considering the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. This contrasts with sculpture or architecture, which are three-dimensional and occupy real space. Not every term will apply to every artwork. Use your critical thinking and observation skills to identify how and when to apply the terms and concepts of visual analysis.

Citation and Licensing

The following sections were written by Chelsea Wright and licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0:

• Textbook Introduction
• Chapter Overview and Introduction
• Focus artwork and term list compiled by Chelsea Wright
• Conclusion

The following articles from Smarthistory licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 were remixed and adapted for the chapter:

• Smarthistory, “Giovanni Bellini,” in Smarthistory.
• Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “How to do visual (formal) analysis,” in Smarthistory, September 18, 2017.