He Soundbox Panel of the Royal Lyre Is an Example of What Kind of Art?
Note: The post-obit post is intended to be a resource for my ancient art students. If y'all know of any skillful examples of basic formal analysis that are available online, please leave links in the comments section below! I would like to build up a listing of resources for my students.
Formal elements are things that are part of the form (or physical backdrop) of a work of art: medium, line, color, scale, size, composition, etc. Formal analysis involves an exploration of how these formal elements bear upon you, every bit a viewer.
Formal analysis involves describing a work of art, only formal analysis goes beyond mere clarification. Instead,description is used as an agent to support the argument-at-hand. Although your essay will likely innovate a piece of work of art with some full general descriptions, the rest of your descriptions should be very pinpointed and with purpose. Brand sure that such detailed descriptions are used to dorsum up specific points of your argument. For this formal analysis assignment, your argument will revolve around some type of reaction to the piece of work of art.
Your formal analysis should include some blazon of thesis statement that revolves around your reaction. To assistance yous remember about your own assignment and personal reaction, I have written a short sample of formal assay below (and have underlined the thesis statement). Please also note that I am not basing my reaction on content (i.due east. the discipline matter, narrative, or symbolism), nor on historical context. Instead, I am focusing strictly on formal (visual or concrete) elements:
Peachy Lyre audio box, c. 2600-2500 BCE
The front end panel of the Peachy Lyre sound box (shown to a higher place) is an example of Sumerian art from the Aboriginal Nearly E.The panel is divided into 4 unlike registers. These registers contain four scenes with figures (mostly animals) involved in diverse activities.Despite the rather rigid compartmentalization of the four sound box scenes, the overall issue of the forepart panel of the Great Lyre sound box is ane of energy and dynamism. Such free energy tin can be seen in the color of the figures and in curvy compositional lines.
The sound box is comprised of two different colors, a dark black and a light tan. These colors are caused by the medium of the console. Dark blackness is the color of bitumen, which is used for the background of the console and lines. Light tan is the color of the inlaid shell that is used for the bodies of the figures and objects. The stark dissimilarity of light tan against a dark groundwork adds a sense of dynamism to the figures. The figures seem to glow and hum with life. Furthermore, these lightly-colored figures are pushed closer toward the viewer, abroad from the black background, which gives the figures a sense of presence and energy.
Detail of summit registers of Great Lyre audio box, c. 2600-2500 BCE
The composition of the figures also lends itself to this idea of energy. The figures fill up the whole space of their corresponding registers and scenes, giving them a strong, energetic presence. In fact, some figures strain and twist so that their bodies can fill and fit inside the register space. Such dynamic twisting is especially seen in the two bulls in the upper-nigh register (come across image above). These bulls are symmetrically placed on either side of a fundamental human figure, creating a "Master of the Animals" motif. The bodies of the bulls twist inward toward the human being figure, and but their necks and heads twist outward and slightly downwardly. The theme of curves and energy is underscored in the beards and hair of these three figures: each lock of hair ends with a bouncy curl.
Free energy tin be seen in the curvaceous lines of other figures also. In the second register from the top, the backs and tails of the hyena and king of beasts are comprised of swooping lines. In fact, the lines of the panthera leo's back are reinforced and highlighted past swooping, short lines that suggest the lion'due south bushy mane. While the lion's mane swoops toward the centre of the scene, the lion's lower back curves in the other direction. These opposing compositional lines give the panel an added sense of energy and motion.
Detail of bottom registers of Great Lyre sound box, c. 2600-2500 BCE
In the second register from the bottom, the back of the bear curves upward and downward in a lyrical, dynamic swoop (see image above). In fact, the whole body of the bear is placed at a more than dynamic angle, since the bear is leaning toward the lyre placed on the left side of the scene. Some of the strings of the lyre curve upward toward the right, opposite the angle of the bear'south body, to add more than opposing movement and dynamism to the overall composition.
The lowest register of the forepart panel contains some of the most dynamic curves and lines. The virtually obvious curve is found in the tail of the scorpion human being on the left side of the scene. This tail curls and swoops up, only to end with a stinger that loops downward. The shape and detail lines of the scorpion tail are also energetic. The tail is comprised of several oval shapes of decreasing sizes. These shapes are combined together to creating a visually dynamic, bouncy outline for the tail. Furthermore, the tail is full of energy because of the multiple lines that announced within each oval shape. These lines look a piffling similar a maze or labyrinth; they visually reinforce the thought of movement through their repetition and interlocking layout.
The front panel of the Dandy Lyre sound box embodies energy in many means. This free energy can exist seen non only considering of the colors of the panel, but besides through several compositional devices and lines. Such visual interest in free energy is plumbing fixtures for this slice, given that this sound box originally hummed with musical vibrations and the energy created past audio.
For farther information almost formal analysis, you may desire to expect at the chapter, "Formal Analysis" past Anne d'Alleva. Preview is available online here.
Source: http://albertis-window.com/2011/08/ancient-art-formal-analysis-example/