Assume you have been given the ability to travel back in time, and you are about to set off on a trip to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The purpose of your trip is to give you the opportunity to visit artists in their studios and to view firsthand the creation of some specific types of paintings or sculpture.

Since the length of time you can spend on this journey is limited, you must decide beforehand what styles you are most interested in. The job you will have is to collect information concerning four (4) different stylesone from each time period listed belowas represented by two artists from each. You may choose from the following:

Before you set out, you should have decided on the four styles that interest you, have determined specific artists you wish to visit, and come up with questions for which you wish to find answers. When you return, you will need to prepare a report that includes the following for each of the four styles you chose, as represented by two artists from each style:

Name of the artist

Title of the work of art

Date of the work of art

Medium or materials used to create the work of art

Then in 24 paragraphs, tell us:

• The style of the work
• Reasons for the style to have gained popularity
• Specific features of the style
• 1-2 reasons why the work of art is important to the history of art

Your report should conclude with an explanation about which style you find most interesting.

A short typewritten paper (4-6 pages) based on your imagined account of your patronage of a Renaissance artist of your choice. You will “commission” any work of art from the Renaissance that inspires you!
For this paper you will research the artist’s life, artistic practice, and style. You will also research the lifestyle of your persona and you will write an imaginative “first-hand “ account of your commissioning of the work of art. You will include a carefully researched description of your artist, his/her studio, the people working in it, the materials and methods your artist employed, the style of the work of your artist and you will position yourself into the fabric of the time and place of your choosing. All this information must be substantiated by a thorough analysis of the scholarly literature available about your topic. You will use this topic to demonstrate your understanding of the role of the patron, the role of artist’s organizations, the training of the artist, artist’s techniques, the style of your chosen artists and the typical subject matter associated with him/her.
You will cite all of your sources and such sources are necessary for a complete paper.

Artist: Jan Van Eyck
Art work: Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife, Portrait