Running Head: CULTURAL ARTIFACTS aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa a aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa a aa aa aa aa aa aa aa 1
4-4 Project Part One: Rough Draft
HUM 200
SNHU
CULTURAL ARTIFACTS aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa 2
The first cultural artifact that has been chosen is the ‘Lady with the Ermine’
portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The artifact is from around 1489 – 1490. It is
54.8 cm high and 40.3 cm wide. The subject of the artifact has been identified as
Cecilia Gallerani and the painting was done when she was the mistress of Lodovico
Sforza, the Duke of Milan. It can be seen in Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland
(Lady with an ermine - by Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with an Ermine - by Leonardo da
Vinci, 2021).
The second cultural artifact that is chosen is the ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ oil
painting by Johannes Vermeer. It was created in 1665. The work is 44.5 cm high and 39
cm wide and it shows a European female in an exotic dress, a turban and a large
earning. It can be seen in Mauritshuis, an art museum in The Hague, in the Netherlands
(Nolan, 1963).
CULTURAL ARTIFACTS aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa 3
Common theme
The common theme between these works is that both the artists have been able
to showcase the representation of women in the respective era by using art. In both the
paintings, the subjects are women and each of them exhibits grace and give a glimpse
into the specific times.
Personal experience
The identified theme is related to my personal experience because it makes me
realize the evolution that women have undergone over the years. Through painting both
the artists have focused on women and shown how they have undergone evolution.
Profession that could be impacted by the theme
A profession that can be impacted by the theme is photography. The theme can
inspire a photographer to capture the constant evolution of people, or women in the
society. Photographers can utilize their skills to capture how women have been moving
away from their conventional roles and changing in terms of dressing, independence, etc.
The working knowledge of humanities relating to art can be used to explore the society
in the historic times. aa
Humanities resources
CULTURAL ARTIFACTS aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa
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The three humanities resources that can be used for investigating the identified
theme and the chosen artifacts are the Journal of Religion and Society, Bibliography of
the History of Art and JSTOR Digital Library (Humanities: Resources. LibGuides,
2021). These resources have been chosen as they can shed light not only on the
identified pieces of artifacts but on the theme that has been identified relating to women.
The selection of suitable humanities resources was a challenging activity as I had to
make sure that the resources were credible in nature and they could add value to the
chosen piece of work and theme. I overcame the challenge by focusing on the theme
and then conducting the search process so that proper alignment would exist and I could
locate appropriate humanities resources.
Historical context
The Lady with the Ermine painting was created during the late 1400s and thus it
encompasses conventional attributes relating to Italian portraiture. One of the distinctive
elements is the color of the work. It reminds the audience of Florentine Quattrocento
tradition that existed during the 15th century (Shell & Sironi, 1992). In the case of the
‘Girl with a pearl earring’ painting, since the subject is imaginary in nature many
historians consider the piece of art to be a form of interaction between imaged beauty
that is represented on canvas and real-life experiences. One of the distinctive elements
that give an insight into the historical context of the artifact is the exotic dress that she
is wearing as her costume (Chevalier, 2001). aa
Similarities and differences
There exist a number of similarities as well as differences between both the
chosen artifacts that is hard to ignore. Some of the main similarities are both are
paintings are done by renounced artists of the respective era. In both the works, the
women have been used as subjects to give a glimpse into their beauty or appearance,
CULTURAL ARTIFACTS aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa
aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa 5
and dressing sense. The paintings serve as the pathway that gives a glimpse into women
during the specific ages. A major difference between both the works is that while the
subject of the ‘Lady with the Ermine’ portrait painting was real, the subject of the ‘Girl
with a pearl earring’ painting was imaginary. While the ‘Lady with the Ermine’ gives a
glimpse into women from Italy, the ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ painting was set in the
Netherlands (Vandivere et al., 2019). Thus the cultural context of both the paintings is
starkly different.
Medium
Both the artifacts that have been selected are paintings that have been done by
artists to portray women belonging to the specific periods of time. While the ‘Lady with
the Ermine’ is a portrait painting, the ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ is an oil painting. The
creators of the work have used colors in their painting that enhances the overall beauty
of their work and make them seem livelier. High attention has been given to the facial
attributes which make the paintings more life-like in nature aa
Thesis statement
The ancient paintings that have been chosen as the artifacts gives a glimpse into
women of the respective eras and how they are represented in the society.
Identification of an audience
The audience group that will be most interested in the identified theme, as well
as the thesis statement that has been created include feminists. Feminists are the
individuals who believe that women must be treated equally as men in every context
including the social, political and economic concepts. Thus the topic might be of high
interest of them as they can get a glimpse into how women were represented in the
former times in the society and they can compare how their role in the society has
changed in the current times. The information can be both informative and insightful for
CULTURAL ARTIFACTS aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa aa
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them as they can understand to what extent women have been able to grow and develop
over the decades.
Tailoring the message to the audience
The message relating to the chosen artifacts and the identified themes need to be
tailored so that it can make sense for the identified audience group. For example, while
making use of specific humanities terminology and principles that are used by scholars,
the information can be presented in a simpler manner so that they can easily
comprehend the information that is being presented. Similarly while capturing
information about specific historical era, the date range will also be provided so that the
audience group can understand the exact time period that is being discussed. For
effectively communicating with the audience it is highly critical to ensure that engaging
information and content is integrated into the research. It can arouse their interest in the
humanities area as well as the theme and artifacts that serve as the foundation of the
work.
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References
Chevalier, T. (2001). Girl with a pearl earring. Penguin.
Humanities: Resources. LibGuides. (2021). Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://libguides.umgc.edu/humanities
Lady with an ermine - by Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with an Ermine - by Leonardo da
Vinci. (2021). Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://www.leonardodavinci.net/lady-with-an-ermine.jsp
Nolan, J. (1963). Girl with the pearl earring. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism, 22(2).
Shell, J., & Sironi, G. (1992). Cecilia Gallerani: Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine.
Artibus et historiae, 47-66.
Vandivere, A., Wadum, J., van den Berg, K. J., & van Loon, A. (2019). From ‘Vermeer
Illuminated’to ‘The Girl in the Spotlight’: approaches and methodologies for the
scientific (re-) examination of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Heritage
Science, 7(1), 1-14.
