Write in a continuous prose in an essay form, integrating your visual and textual analysis as much as possible.
Rubric
How might the virtue of magnificence be manifest in Renaissance art?
Answer with close reference to:
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (Art and Visual Culture: A Reader, pp. 80–83)
Benvenuto Cellini, salt cellar of Francis I, 1540–43, gold and enamel, 26 x 34 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, KK–881, Art and Visual Culture 1100-1600: Medieval to Renaissance, Plates 5.21 and 5.22
An additional work of art of your own choice, drawn from Book 1, Part 2.
Rationale
The aim of this assignment is to build on the work you completed for TMA 01 by developing further your skills of visual analysis, this time in combination with textual analysis. You are asked to assess the provisions of the rubric in addition to a choice of your own. Benvenuto Cellini’s salt caller highlights that art in the Renaissance ventured outside the realm of religion, which was certainly very important for Medieval art, as Book 1, Part 1 demonstrates. You can draw your example either from religious or from secular art, but please ensure that your choice serves your argument and clearly supports your answer.
