Art and Architecture Program

The Art Object: Opening Up Past Worlds Through the Prism of Cultural Artifacts

Faculty Advisor: Professor of Fine Arts, NYU; Former Director of Graduate Studies, NYU

Research Program Introduction

If you were to name one revolutionary period in art history, it would undoubtedly be the Renaissance. Originating in Italy, the movement soon spread to the rest of Europe. New art forms flourished, and many great artists in human history were born. In this program, students will focus on one work of art, Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas, displayed in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

The project allows students to focus their attention on an individual work of art, which we will examine electronically. We will spend the first two or three sessions studying the work in all its parts and then developing questions requiring further examination. These sessions will be a lesson in slow-looking and framing research questions.

For the final three or four sessions, each student will take on one or another question and follow it down a research path, reporting to the group on their findings. As a result of reporting to each other, students will inform each other’s inquiries, all of them contributing to a prismatic understanding of the work.

Individual assessment will be based on the student's oral reports and a written paper addressing an aspect of the painting. A teaching assistant will be on hand to help with writing skills. Research, oral presentation, and written skills will all be considered.

Research Questions Include

  • How does the painting relate to the history of portraits and self-portraits?

  • How does it address its viewers?

  • What claims is it making about art?

  • Where does the work fit into Velázquez’s development?

  • What techniques does he use here, and how does he use them?

  • Or any other questions that you see fit and your Faculty Advisor approves after your discussion with him

Program Details

  • Cohort size: 3 to 5 students

  • Workload: Around 4 to 5 hours per week (including class and homework time)

  • Target students: 9 to 12th graders interested in art, history, and art history.