Essay #1: 17th-century (baroque) topic
Instructions
Ovid’s Metamorphoses as Interpreted through Baroque History Painting DUE: Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026 (with a 24-hour grace period)
Essay type: visual analysis–comparison IMPORTANT:
This essay is neither a report nor a research paper. NO outside research is allowed It is a looking and thinking exercise.
• For background on what a visual analysis type of essay is, see pdf—
Canvas Files—Assignment Instructions—Essay #1: Visual Analysis: What Is It?
• For a sample setup (not a full essay) for a visual analysis comparison essay, see pdf—
Canvas Files—Assignment Instructions—Essay #1: Sample Comparison Essay
How to prepare?
1. Pick a story and 2 artworks that illustrate it.
2. Read the story and think about what’s going on, any underlying meaning.
3. Review assigned course readings and lectures so that you’re knowledgeable about 17th-century painting.
4. Study the 2 paintings (on the same subject!) that you picked and take looking notes.
5. Come up with a thesis statement for your essay
6. Determine which features from each painting prompted your thesis.
7. Determine what the main points of your argument are (the relevant art features and how they work to tell the story in each painting)
8. Analyze the features for how they’re conveying each artist’s interpretation of the story
9. Your essay should have both a short introduction and a short conclusion 10. The intro should contain your thesis statement
Your essay should answer the question:
How does each artist interpret the story (whichever story you chose)?
The way you answer “how” is to analyze 2 paintings of the subject for how their formal features work to convey the story.
How are the figures portrayed? How do they relate to one another? To the setting? Do color and/or lighting play a role in conveying the story’s meaning? How so? Other important details?
Select a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses:
• Stories were selected based on availability and diversity of paintings available as digital images
• Summaries in modern English are on Canvas—Assignment Instructions—Essay #1
Pick one of the narratives:
- Apollo and Daphne (Book I)
- Echo and Narcissus (Book III)
- Vertumnus and Pomona (Book XIV)
Select 2 paintings of the same story:
NOTE 1: Digital images of all artworks can be found in the Files section of Canvas—Assignment
Instructions—Essay #1—images folder
NOTE 2: In your essay, use the format for artist/ title/ date as shown below. Do NOT use the file name NOTE 3: Use the artist’s full name at first mention, then subsequently by last name only (never the first!!) or “he”
NOTE 4: Painting titles are always in italics
Apollo and Daphne
Luca Giordano, Apollo and Daphne (c. 1687–89)
Pierre Mignard, Apollo and Daphne (17th century)
Theo van Thulden, Apollo and Daphne (c. 1636–38)
Guy-Louis Vernansal, Apollo and Daphne (mid 1690s)
Note: Giordano is Italian; Mignard & Vernansal are French; van Thulden is Dutch.
Echo and Narcissus
Caravaggio, Narcissus (c. 1597–98)
Claude, Landscape with Narcissus and Echo (1644)
Note: the female figure in the foreground was overpainted to make her nude; ignore that detail—it’s NOT part of the original story
Pier Francesco Mola, Echo and Narcissus (c. 1633–41)
Nicolas Poussin, Echo and Narcissus (c. 1629)
Godfried Schalcken, Narcissus (c. 1680–85)
Note: Caravaggio & Mola are Italian; Claude & Poussin are French; Schalcken is Dutch.
Vertumnus and Pomona
Jacob Jordaens, Vertumnus and Pomona (1638)
Paulus Moreelse, Vertumnus and Pomona (c. 1630)
Peter Paul Rubens, Vertumnus and Pomona (1617–19)
David Teniers, Vertumnus and Pomona (1638)
Caesar van Everdingen, Vertumnus and Pomona (1637)
Note: Jordaens, Rubens, & Teniers are Flemish; Moreelse & van Everdingen are Dutch
ADDENDUM: Specs
Length: Minimum 4 full pages, up to 5 pages
Word count: 1200–1500 words
DOUBLE SPACE!!! 1-inch margins Paginate!
12-point standard font
Compose essay using Google Docs
Export to pdf to submit
Do not submit a scan of the pdf. Canvas won’t open it.
> No A.I. <
Proofread and spell check!
1. If you use Grammarly or a similar app just to proofread, you won’t get an A.I. score, or it’ll be negligible.
2. If you use these programs to polish your writing, you will get a concerning A.I., even though your work is your own. Please avoid over-polishing your writing, or it won’t sound authentic.
3. If you write your essay in another language and translate it into English, that will also yield a high A.I. score.
If you did your own work and are concerned about an A.I. score, include a disclaimer in the comment box when you submit your essay on Canvas.
For example: Grammarly was used to proofread this essay.
A program was used to translate this essay into English.