An Introduction to Feldman1. Describe and Name the

VISUAL FACTS.2. Analyze the VISUAL

FACTS:Using Form Descriptors: Line, Light,

Shape, Color and Temperature, Size and Quantity, Space and

Location, Surface and Texture.Further Observations: Similarity,

Closeness, Contrast, Sequence, Direction, Rhythm, Symmetry, Balance, Completeness, and

Closure.The Technical Process: based on the

visual facts.

3. Interpret the Evidence:– Create a critical hypothesis:

• Where is this happening?• Who lives here? What did they do?

Why did they do it?• Are the represented events real or

potentially real?• Was this place seen remembered or

invented?• Where are we in relation to what we

see?• What happened before we arrived?

What will happen afterward?• If this was real how would our world

be different?

4. Judge the Work:– Use your interpretation to

ground your judgment.

Apollo and Daphne by BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo(1622-25)Marble, height 243 cm Galleria Borghese, Rome

Sample SOVA question:

Structured Question1(a) Describe the subject

matter / Describe what you see in this work.

1(b) Comment on the treatment of the human figures and the manner in which the figures are posed.

[10]1(c) How successful is Bernini’s sculptural adaptation the story of Daphne and Apollo?

[10]

Gian Lorenzo Bernini• Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Naples, 7 December 1598 – Rome,

28 November 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect. In addition he painted, wrote plays, and designed metalwork and stage sets.

• A student of Classical sculpture, Bernini possessed the unique ability to capture, in marble, the essence of a narrative moment with a dramatic naturalistic realism which was almost shocking. This ensured that he effectively became the successor of Michelangelo, far outshining other sculptors of his generation, including his rival, Alessandro Algardi.

• His talent extended beyond the confines of his sculpture to consideration of the setting in which it would be situated; his ability to be able to synthesise sculpture, painting and architecture into a coherent conceptual and visual whole has been termed by the art historian, Irving Lavin, the ‘unity of the visual arts’.[1]

More on wikipedia here.

Story of Apollo and Daphne Apollo and Daphne is a baroque, life-sized marble sculpture by Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini,

housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. It was inspired by one of the stories included in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

In the story, Apollo, god of prophecy, sees the young Eros, god of love, playing with his bow and arrows and remarks, "What have you to do with warlike weapons, saucy boy? Leave them for hands worthy of them." In retribution for this reproach, Eros wounds Apollo with a golden arrow, causing him to fall in love with the nymph daughter of the river god Peneus. Eros additionally wounds the beautiful nymph Daphne, with a lead arrow, thus insuring she would not be wooed by Apollo's advances. (In fact, the arrow's power was so strong that Daphne forthwith refused all of her lovers.) Regardless of her father Peneus's requests for a son-in-law and grandchildren, Daphne begs to remain unmarried and he grudgingly consents.

Apollo, struck with the golden arrow of love, pleads with Daphne to fulfil his desire. Daphne begins to flee. Even as she runs, he is more captivated by her beauty. Apollo grows impatient and soon, sped by Eros, gains on her. With slower speed and failing strength, Daphne cries out to her father just as Apollo captures her. Not a moment later, Daphne's skin turns to bark, her hair leaves, her arms branches, her feet roots, and her face a treetop. In only a moment, Peneus protects his daughter by turning her into a laurel tree. After the transformation Apollo still embraces the tree. He cuts off some of her branches and leaves to make a wreath and proclaims the laurel as a sacred tree.

Story of Apollo and DaphneBernini's sculpture captures Daphne's transformation with intense emotion and

drama by portraying the different stages of her changes. The interlocking components and chiaroscuro create more narrative, reflecting foundations of Hellenistic Greek art.

Also during the Hellenistic period was the androgynous depiction of Apollo. He was slender, young, and had a feminine hair style, all of which are portrayed in this sculpture. Part of Apollo's iconography is the laurel tree and the wreath, originating from Ovid's story and illustrated in Bernini's work.

Although Apollo preached "All things in moderation" and was known to control his emotions, this sculpture clearly reveals him desperately pursuing love in vain. The failure of getting Daphne hints at Apollo's many failures with love in general, including being unable to win a maiden and his lovers' fidelity.

Other things you might need to know to answer the SOVA question

• Baroque Period of Art• Marble Sculpture

Process• Greek Hellenistic style• Portrait sculptures by

Berinini• Michelangelo vs Bernini