Contextual Analysis

After you have mastered visual analysis, the next major approach to art history is cultural context. This is the placement of a work of art in its context for creation and reception. The various details help us to understand what a work might have meant in its original (or any particular subsequent) time. This context might include the following:

• The artist’s life and training
• Patronage of the work (who paid for it, how and why)
• Political circumstances when the the work was made
• Religious circumstances when the the work was made
• Philosophical movements of the time
• Other major forms of cultural expression from the same period
• Contemporary scientific and geographic knowledge
• Original setting of the work
• Original use of the work

I will give very brief examples of each of these types of context, to help clarify. These points would all be good starting points for analysis. They are, in and of themselves, just data. If you include any elements of cultural context in your writing, be sure to not just give the what, but also explain why this matters:

• The artist’s life and training
  • Albrecht Dürer’s father was a goldsmith, and he received training in his workshop as a very young boy.
• Patronage of the work (who paid for it, how and why)
  • Pope Julius II paid Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel, after being convinced to do so by Raphael and Bramante, who wanted to see the remarkable young sculptor fail at this massive painting project.
• Political circumstances when the the work was made
  • Goya created his Los Capricos etchings in part as a response to his disillusionment with Spanish politics.
• Religious circumstances when the the work was made
  • As popular piety grew in Renaissance Flanders, laypeople began to worship on their own, creating a market for personal home altars like the Merode Altarpiece.
• Philosophical movements of the time
  • The philosophical viewpoint of the Enlightenment suggested that civilization could be perfected over time, and Hogarth worked to encourage this with overtly moralizing tales in paintings and prints.
• Other major forms of cultural expression from the same period
  • The long, smooth barrel vaults of Romanesque churches were perfectly suited to Gregorian (or Plainsong) chant, popular at the time, with its long, low, simple monophonic melodies.
• Contemporary scientific and geographic knowledge
  • The maps of Abraham Ortelius were based on history, myth, and recent scientific observations.
• Original setting of the work
  • Raku-ware tea bowls were designed not for display in museums but for use in simple, rustic tea houses, such as those designed by Sen no Rikyu.
• Original use of the work
  • Dogon masks were never made to be displayed in glass vitrines in museums, but rather, were made to be worn by dancers in ritual performances.

These are just some of the many elements of a work’s cultural context. When we put together careful visual analysis with careful cultural contextualizaton, we can really begin to understand the meanings and significance of works of art!