Tze Chuang's presentation

Tze Chuang's presentation
NCU
黃資娟 Tze-chuang Huang #15
Time: Am9:00~11:30
Presentation: Wed, 3rd Nov 2004/10/31

The reason
The presentation's topic is to compare two creations. For the reason, I think art is the best material to get start with, therefore, I choose this topic.

Source of material
A Short Guide to Writing about Art,4nd edition: Writing a Comparison
1.Outline 1.Introduction
(Thesis statement) Agostno’s relief is also gentle and delicate but it is in every respect more self-consciously "designed," more contrived, than Desiderio's. Both Madonnas are human rather than divine but Desiderio's is a natural, homely humanity while Agostino's is elegantly aristocratic and artificial.
2.Body
(Topic sentence) A.B.C. A.The differences between the two works may be brought out more clearly if we compare a few details. Consider the treatment of the hair.
(supporting ideas)a.b.
a. irregular lines and regular lines(not clean lines and clean lines)
b. the lines for their own sake or not
B. A comparison of the smiliarity positioned right forearms and hands of the two Virgins is most revealing.
(supporting ideas)a.b.
a. straight lines and curve lines
b. continuity C. The outline of the fleshy parts of Desiderio's figures- the head, arms, and shoulders of the Child, for example- are softer and more variable than those of Agostino's. This is true also of the modeling inside the contours.
(supporting ideas)a.
a. the lines of facial features- the center line of the nose, the outlines of the lips and the eyes
3.Conclusion
(concluding sentences) The crux of the matter is that in this work of Desiderio's the design is less obtrusive than it is in the Agostino.

2.Thesis statement
Agostno's relief is also gentle and delicate but it is in every respect more self-consciously "designed," more contrived, than Desiderio's. Both Madonnas are human rather than divine but Desiderio's is a natural, homely humanity while Agostino's is elegantly aristocratic and artificial.
3.Topic statement
A. The differences between the two works may be brought out more clearly if we compare a few details. Consider the treatment of the hair.
B. A comparison of the smiliarity positioned right forearms and hands of the two Virgins is most revealing.
C. The outline of the fleshy parts of Desiderio's figures- the head, arms, and shoulders of the Child, for example- are softer and more variable than those of Agostino's. This is true also of the modeling inside the contours.

4.Supporting ideas
A.
a. irregular lines and regular lines(not clean lines and clean lines)
b. the lines for their own sake or not
B.
a. straight lines and curve lines
b. continuity
C.
a. the lines of facial features- the center line of the nose, the outlines of the lips and the eyes
5.Concluding sentences
The crux of the matter is that in this work of Desiderio's the design is less obtrusive than it is in the Agostino.
7.Essay Two Low Relief Carvings from the Fifteenth CenturyWe turn now to two fifteenth-century Italian low relief carvings on the theme of the Madonna and Child. Desiderio da Settignano’s all too short thirty-five years of life (1430-64) began and ended durting the lifetime of Agostino di Duccio (1418-81). Yet although the two artist were contemporaries who almost certainly knew of each other's work, it would be difficult to find two artist who display a greater difference in the qualities of their lines. Desiderio's lines are full of minute changes of direction and breaks in continuity. They have a nervous delicacy, a gentleness, and quiet unassertiveness which is appropriate, in our example, to the character and mood expressed in a more directly psychological way in the faces of Mary and the Child.They are neither rhetorical nor merely decorative but describe the form and represent material qualities in a naturalistic manner. There is nothing arbitrary about them. For the most part they are not clear-cut lines; their depth and intensity varies and they have an irregular scratched rather than a sharp-edged quality. Many of them are little more than short incised "touches" with the chisel. Agostno's relief is also gentle and delicate but it is in every respect more self-consciously "designed," more contrived, than Desiderio's. Both Madonnas are human rather than divine but Desiderio's is a natural, homely humanity while Agostino's is elegantly aristocratic and artificial. If there is anything supernatural about Agostion's relief, it is a supernatural prettiness and sweetness.
The differences between the two works may be brought out more clearly if we compare a few details. Consider the treatment of the hair. In Desiderio's relief it is rendered as a vaguely unified plastic mass in which curls are merely hinted at by irregular incised lines. The hair of Desiderio's Child has a soft, downy appearance and merges with the form of the forehead without any clear line of demarcation. Agostino, on the other hand, has treated the hair as a highly stylized pattern of regular lines. These fall into graceful waves, and on the Child they twist round to form elegant tight little spiral curls. A similar difference pervades the drapery of the two reliefs. Desiderio's treatment is spare, full of irregularities, crumpled passages, and straightness. There are no lines which seem to be there purely for their own sake. Agostino's lines on the other hand are mostly decorative and are intended to be enjoyed for their own sake. They are full of graceful curves and elegant rhythms and counter-rhythems. Their linear design is confidently, even exuberantly, lyrical. A comparison of the smiliarity positioned right forearms and hands of the two Virgins is most revealing. Agostino makes one continuous curve of the upper line of the forearm and the hand and carries the line right through to the ends of the extended first finger and thumb. But the line of Desiderio's arm and hand changes direction abruptly where the hand broadens out at the wrist. And although there is a connction through from the arm across the hand and into the extended finger, it is a straight line, not an elegant curve, and it is not continuous. Notice, too, the contrast in the lines of the fingers themselves in the two reliefs.
The outline of the fleshy parts of Desiderio's figures- the head, arms, and shoulders of the Child, for example- are softer and more variable than those of Agostino's. This is true also of the modeling inside the contours. The line down the left arms of both infants clearly show the difference. Finally, the lines of the facial features- the center line of the nose, the outlines of the lips and the eyes- are sharper in the Agostino than in the Desiderio, where their softness contributes to the "dewy" look of the faces.
It would be wrong to conclude from all this that Agostino's relief is more carefully designed and that Desiderio’s merely describes the forms naturalistically. Desiderio's relief is in fact designed with extreme care and sensitivity. Indeed, according to John Pope-Hennessy, "in composition this is Desiderio's finest and most inventive Madonna relief." Pope-Hennessy dose complain , however, that its execution is "rather dry" and inferior to that of some of the sculptor's other works. The crux of the matter is that in this work of Desiderio's the design is less obtrusive than it is in the Agostino.
7.Comparison sentences
a. Agostno's relief is also gentle and delicate but it is in every respect more self-consciously "designed," more contrived, than Desiderio’s
b. Both Madonnas are human rather than divine but Desiderio's is a natural, homely humanity while Agostino's is elegantly aristocratic and artificial.
c. The outline of the fleshy parts of Desiderio's figures- the head, arms, and shoulders of the Child, for example- are softer and more variable than those of Agostino's.
d. The lines of the facial features- the center line of the nose, the outlines of the lips and the eyes- are sharper in the Agostino than in the Desiderio.
e. The crux of the matter is that in this work of Desiderio's the design is less obtrusive than it is in the Agostino.
8.Conclusion
Although the two reliefs have the same topic, they are different from many aspects in detailed. We also can judge these two carvings form the differences.
9.Summary
The two same topic relief carvings are diffierent from many aspects in the lines. The lines of Desiderio's relief is irregular,straight,not continuous,and don't have the owm sake for carving. Agostinos lines, on the other hand, are regular,curve,continuous,and have the own sake for carving.Besides,the lines are sharper in the Agostino than in the Desiderio.
10.References 1.The article
a. A Short Guide to Writing about Art,4nd Edition Section 3 :Writing a Comparison pp95~98
b. Relief Sculpture
2. Virgin and Child
a. Picture
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/euro_dec_arts/euro-dec-eleven.html
b. Introduction
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/euro_dec_arts/W1930-1-2.shtml
3. Virgin and Child with Four Angels
a. Picture
http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/d/p-duccio1.htm
b. Introduction
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0802757.html