Smarthistory: The Blog

An enhanced podcast about Degas’ The Dance Class, 1874 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

 Degas, Dance Class, 1874 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) [5:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My online students got into a heated discussion about how Enrico Scrovegni, the patron of Giotto’s frescos in the Arena Chapel, asked Giotto to depict him handing the chapel to the angels and Virgin Mary in heaven — thus implying a kind of virtuousness about himself, that the students felt to be a kind of potentially false representation.

So, we made this vodcast about how images can be used to support specific political agendas, focusing on the famous painting by Goya, The Third of May, 1808.

Warning: There are some difficult images in this video that may not be appropriate for all ages.

Click here to see a larger version.

 Goya, Third of May, 1808 (1814) [17:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thanks to Aimee Rinehart for such a great segment…(if we do say so ourselves…)