In what ways does this image convey power and status?

In what ways does this image convey power and status?(Justus of Ghent, probably reworked by Pedro Berruguete, Federigo da Montefeltro and His Son Guidobaldo, about 1476. Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, (Palazzo Ducale), Urbino. Photo: Scala, Florence – courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali e del Turismo.)GuidanceThe aim of Part 2 is to give you the opportunity to practise your skills in visual and contextual analysis and to demonstrate your understanding of how art conveys power and status. You should answer the question by bringing together two types of evidence into one piece of continuous prose: your own visual analysis of the artwork and discussion of how the themes of art, power and status are presented in the artwork. To make sure your answer is grounded in visual analysis, start by examining the image closely and make some notes. Use the ‘Painting’ and ‘Designed Objects’ sections of the Visual analysis toolkit to reflect on the formal qualities of the artwork as part of the preparatory work for writing your essay. Even if any of these aspects is absent or seemingly less relevant, their absence or reduced importance may be useful to note and may well provide information about the intended meaning. Acknowledging it could, in principle, contribute to your reasoning.After noting your initial thoughts, take some time to review Chapter 1, in particular Section 5 ‘Collecting and Display’, as well as Block 2, online Unit 1 ‘Portraits of power: from Italian princes to Mughal emperors’, especially Section 5 ‘Comparing portraits’, Section 6 ‘Staging a work of art’ and Section 7 ‘What’s the relevance of portraiture’. You might also find it useful to revisit online Unit 4 ‘Why do portraits matter?’.Gather factual information about the sitter, the artwork’s context of display, its function and historical context. Then review these details in relation to the visual characteristics you have noted of the painting itself and its context of display. Pay attention to how they may be related to questions of power and status and how they are presented visually in the painting. To clarify your thoughts, it might be useful to consider how power and status feature in other images of male sitters, such as Book 1, Chapter 1, Figures 2, 4 and 36, and to reflect on how these images relate to the one you are exploring. It is also recommended that you look at the discussion of Mantegna’s Camera Picta in Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 5 ‘Collecting and Display’ as a further point of comparison to help you identify key differences between the way portraits are used to argue the power, status and prestige of the Marquis Ludovico Gonzaga and Duke Federigo da Montefeltro.You may also want to revisit Activities 1 and 2 in Block 2, online Unit 1, Section 3 ‘Meet The Ambassadors’ to revise your skills in visual analysis and of course the Visual Analysis Toolkit (Resource 2.1 in this unit.)Before writing your answer, make sure you take a moment to revisit the question and check that you have considered all required elements. When you write up your answer in continuous prose, you will need to select and organise your visual and contextual evidence to explain how the artwork makes a case for power and status. Be sure to present a coherent argument that addresses these themes and how the visual form of the artwork, which may include its chosen context of display, supports this message.Overall, this assignment gives you the opportunity to further develop your skills in working closely with visual and textual materials.

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