All good art historical analysis begins with description. Describing a visual work -- putting what you see into words, carefully chosen and organized to reflect the visual experience -- is the beginning of ordering your data, as a scientist would begin to do for an experiment. Description is particularly important because the visual is NOT verbal and any act of writing/talking about the visual involves a certain amount of "translation" or at least "re-presentation." When you describe a work for a reader (in addition to providing a reproduction), as John Lowden does in your text, you are offering both data and an interpretation: as your reader, I may not have noticed something you the describer do or I may have interpreted a form or a gesture somewhat differently. Good description permits the reader to understand the foundations of the writer's arguments by establishing the basic visual data in a way that both writer and reader thereafter share (whether I, in the last analysis, agree with you that that round thing hanging on the tree is a gourd or an apple, is another issue, but your description at least gives me a clue as to how you are thinking about the visual evidence).

Accordingly, note some of the brief but very useful description that Lowden provides even in this first chapter and think about his process or system: He generally sets up the big picture, the overall composition, and then quickly sketches in the main features, saving details until the reader has a good word-framework in which to plug them.

Your assignment is to look through the reproductions in the Lowden text to find a work of art (NOT a detail but a whole work, please) that catches your attention. Spend some time, before you read the text, looking at it and thinking about what the artist did to create it (remember that art history ultimately considers art in relation to humans, those who create it and those who "use" it variously, which is why it's classified as one of the humanities). Then write a description that provides a clear, thorough word-picture for the reader, beginning (again) with the overall composition and then moving down to details. Please note that an initial description DOES NOT have to involve any research or particular knowledge; you don't need to be able to identify all the figures or the specific iconography (subject-matter and its meaning), 'though your description should enable reader to distinguish specifics ("figure on the right" if there are more than one, for example) as you describe. Try to use verbs to describe the actions of the artist ("The artist represents...") or the actions of the parts of the composition ("The figures stand..." ) or the beholder's visual engagement ("Above the clouds we see..."), which are ways of avoiding overuse of forms of "to be" which make description tedious both to write and to read.

Describe succinctly but thoroughly. Two to three paragraphs should be sufficient, but use your own good judgement. My own test of good description is that I have seen the work whole and clearly by the time I have finished writing or reading it.

THEN draw a line to separate. Think about what in the work attracted or interested you, why you had a particular response to the work, and then write another paragraph or so in which you explore that personal connection to the visual. This will give both you and me a way of understanding your preferences and ways of thinking about art.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the above -- the description and the response -- are based on observing, recording, and thinking about the visual work. No research is involved at this point (should not be involved). Do not rely on the text for description or any but the most basic information. You can use the text in case you cannot tell what medium a work is in or you wish to identify a figure by name, that sort of basic fact, but description is part of your personal response to the visual, so don't use anyone else's.

Hand-written work IS acceptable for this exercise as long as it's legible. General rules of clear writing and presentation always apply.