(held by the University of MN)
A Short Guide to Writing about Art by
This text guides art students through the writing process. Students are shown how to analyze pictures (drawings, paintings, photographs), sculptures and architecture. The text includes: coverage of essential writing assignments including formal analysis, comparison, research paper, review of an exhibition, essay examination; clear step-by-step writing instructions guiding students though the research and writing processes; sample essays, with analytic comments by the author, demonstrating the virtues of effective writing.
Writing about Art by
This straightforward guide prepares students to describe, interpret, and write about works of art in meaningful and lasting terms. Designed as a supplement to Art History survey and period texts, this efficient book features a step-by-step approach to writing--from choosing a work to write about, to essay organization, to research techniques, to footnote form, to preparing the final essay. For beginners as well as more advanced students [Publisher description]
Art history not surprisingly is an interesting intersection of both visual art and cultural history and experience, and often the resources you draw from fit into an intersection of both.
Write down key words, phrases, names, and dates that might relate to your topic.
Bear in mind that in the case of what we now regard as ancient or medieval art, the people creating it did not consider it to be art per se, but something created with another purpose in mind, such as ensuring a safe transition to the next world, or communicating a theology to a public audience.
Unknown Artist. Horse and Rider. Earthenware with traces of pigment. 31-1/2 x 29-3/4 x 11-1/2 in. (80.0 x 75.6 x 29.2 cm). Minneapolis Institute of Art. Minneapolis, Minnesota. https://collections.artsmia.org/art/59514/horse-and-rider-china. Accessed 6 Oct. 2023.
By searching relevant topics in the library catalog and adding the keyword <<sources>> to your search, you can find materials that contain primary sources. Hint: you can further limit your search by language by selecting languages in the left-hand navigation of your search results.
Below are some other places to find primary sources online.
This link opens in a new window
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages by
"The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages is an essential new reference work covering all key aspects of European history, society, and culture from 500 to 1500 A.D., as well as the Byzantine Empire, Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples of the era. It is designed both for medievalists, who need a detailed and reliable reference tool, and for students and general readers seeking an accessible guide to the period. Over 800 scholars have assembled thousands of comprehensive entries, lavishly supplemented by hundreds of illustrations and dozens of maps."--Publisher description.
Ancient Europe 8000 B.C. – A.D. 1000 by
Examines the diverse peoples of early European civilization through a series of 212 essays, presented in chronological order. Coverage includes prehistoric origins through the early Middle Ages (8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000). Includes maps, photos, and chronologies. For the general reader.
Women in the Medieval Islamic World by
Women often seem invisible in what is widely perceived as the male-oriented society of Islam. Women in the Medieval Islamic World seeks to redress this misperception with a series of original essays on women in the pre-modern phase of Islamic history. The reader will encounter here a colorful portrait gallery of rulers, politicians, poets, and patrons, as well as some larger-than-life fictitious females from the pages of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literature. No less authentic are the accounts of the quiet or troubled lives of ordinary women preserved in the court records of Mamluk Egypt and Ottoman Turkey, reminders that historical research can resuscitate the lives of subaltern as well as elite women from the past.
The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History by
Published to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the foundation of the Jewish Historical Society of England, this is no conventional dictionary. For two centuries an extensive Jewish community played an important role in English medieval history. The book opens up a society for which we have sources 'many hundreds of times richer than those for France' (Robert Chazan). Nearly 30 self-governing communities extended across the country, from York to Exeter, Hereford to Canterbury. Vestiges of the medieval Jewry remain in street names; sites of Jewish houses, synagogues and cemeteries; and archaeological sites and artefacts. The 42 illustrations include 14 town plans. 30 biographic entries examine leading members of communities; eight include family trees, in six cases extending over at least five generations. A wide range of entries of general interest provide details on matters as diverse as Synagogues, Ritual child murder, Women, Libraries and Books, Mikva'ot, Usury, Herb gardens, Bezant, Community, Treasure and Laving stone.
The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture by 
An Archaeology of Prehistoric Bodies and Embodied Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean by 
Interpreting Ancient Figurines: Context, Comparison, and Prehistoric Art by 
