Zoe Dawson - Visual Art
Contents
Introduction 81
Chapter one: The effect of the manipulation of materials and
technique, colour, and composition on Cabanel’s aims
83
Chapter Two: The effect of the manipulation of scale pictorial
space, and light and tone on Botticelli’s aimas
88
Conclusion 97
References 98
Appendix 100
Bibliography 103
Abstract
The aim of this essay is to investigate how the formal elements of
painting were manipulated in order to help achieve the intentions for the
painting. The paintings in question are “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro
Botticelli, and the painting of the same name by Alexandre Cabanel.
I combined reading books, web pages and essays with a trip to the
Musée D’Orsay in Paris to view the Cabanel painting. The subject matter
of the paintings is almost identical, yet the criteria for the aims of each
painting led to them being very different in appearance. The components
of colour, composition, pictorial space, light and tone, materials and
technique, and scale are used to answer the question of whether the
artists achieved their aims, at two very different times in art history.
In the investigation, I explore the aims that might have been set by the
artists when choosing to paint the Birth of Venus at these two times.
The limitation of the essay is that the artists’ intentions are speculative,
as they have not been formally documented. However through my
combination of research and viewing of the paintings, I decided upon
three aims for each of the paintings. Comparing the formal elements,
and the aims chosen for the two paintings led me to understand the
impact of the manipulation of these elements upon how successful the
paintings were. This essay concludes that Cabanel’s manipulation of
the formal elements definitely helped him to achieve one of his aims,
whilst evidence shows mixed answers to the success in the other two.
Similarly, it shows that Botticelli’s use of the formal elements aided him in
achieving his aims, yet the extent to which they helped is minimal.
79