Detail (work of art)

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A detail is an isolated element within a work of art, particularly from a painting, sculpture or building. [1]

Contents

Overview

A detail is distinct from the general composition of a work of art. [1] The art historian Jennifer Raab of Yale University describes it as inherently contradictory: "it can delineate difference or emphasize unity". [2] She furthers that "the detail always points away from itself to something else–to other parts of a picture, to the work of art as a whole". [2]

When a detail is reproduced, this is noted in the work of art's caption. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 "detail, n.: 4a." . OED Online . Oxford: Oxford University Press . Retrieved 3 June 2023.(subscription required)
  2. 1 2 3 Raab, Jennifer (2015). Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 3. ISBN   978-0-300-21286-0.

Further reading