Please write a 6 page, double-spaced paper on one of the following works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Wall painting: Polyphemus and Galatea in a landscape, last decade of the 1st c. B.C.E. From the imperial villa at Boscotrecase Accession Number: 20.192.17 Located in Gallery 166 (The Sylvia Josephs Berger and Joyce Berger Cowin Gallery) The assignment will count as 30% of your grade. All papers must be submitted in hard copy along with the museum receipt. Late papers will be downgraded. None will be accepted after December 5. Carefully examine the objects IN PERSON. In your paper, address the following in relation to your chosen piece: Begin by identifying the artist (if known), subject, medium, and date of execution – this information is available on the wall label and the Mets website. How has the artist composed the work? Has the artist presented the subject convincingly? How does the artists technique affect the works overall appearance? Also discuss this in terms of the choice of medium. How does the work fit within or differ from the stylistic tradition of its era? Do we know who commissioned this piece? If so, describe why they did. If not, speculate what type of institution or person did so based on the pieces historical context. Employ the Mets website as your first resource in investigating these issues. Avoid employing blogs, Wikipedia, and other websites that lack sufficient documentation when conducting your research. How does this work resemble or differ from others we have seen in class? After answering these questions, do you think the artist has created a visually enticing work? Does it appeal to you? Express your opinion at length. I will accept any recognized system of citation for footnotes and bibliography. However, do not get bogged down by research and bibliographic detail. Your grade will depend primarily on how well you analyze and compare the works visually. Here is the link to the images: Paper . If you are uncertain you are viewing the correct work, check the wall label to confirm the accession number matches the information above. Staff members at the information desk can assist you in finding the particular galleries. For your information, the Mets entry fee is SUGGESTED for students ONLY. You may pay what you can afford, but be prepared to show your MSU id. For museum directions and hours, refer to the Mets website: Please note: The museum may remove at its discretion and with no prior notice the works listed here. If an object is not in the gallery cited above, please ask at the information desk if it has been relocated to a different gallery. If it has been removed from display altogether, please choose another one from the list. FINAL TIPS: If you need assistance with basics on how to write a paper, contact the Center for Writing Excellence ( This is a free service available to all members of the university. However, the Center is not infallible, and you will be responsible for any errors in your paper. Plagiarism from the Mets label or website is unacceptable. Incorporate this information in your own voice in the paper. Similarly, do not quote from the label or website at length. When writing your paper, avoid sentences beginning with There are, This is, etc. In addition, focus on using the active rather than the passive voice. Read a hard copy of your paper before submitting it in order to correct errors not caught by spell check (for example, wine is not the same as whine, but spell check cannot distinguish the difference in your meaning). Have someone else read the paper to see if they understand it. Lack of clarity and grammatical errors will affect your grade adversely. TYPE OF PARAGRAPH TO AVOID: This is a statue. This statue was created in Timbuktu in ca. between 10,000 and 8,000 BCE. This statue was made by an artist but we dont know his name. I saw it in the Metropolitan Museum of art. It is called Standing Person.
