Detail (work of art)
{{Short description|Isolated element within a work of art}}
{{infobox
|image={{switcher
|File:Raphael-cherubini.jpg|Detail of the putti from The Sistine Madonna by Raphael
|File:RAFAEL - Madonna Sixtina (Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister, Dresden, 1513-14. Óleo sobre lienzo, 265 x 196 cm).jpg|Entirety of The Sistine Madonna by Raphael
}}}}
A detail is an isolated element within a work of art, particularly from a painting, sculpture or building.{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=OED Online |title=detail, n.: 4a. |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/51168 |access-date=3 June 2023 }} {{subscription required}}
Overview
A detail is distinct from the general composition of a work of art. The art historian Jennifer Raab of Yale University describes it as inherently contradictory: "it can delineate difference or emphasize unity".{{cite book |last=Raab |first=Jennifer |year=2015 |title=Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-21286-0 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=y3OhCgAAQBAJ}} |page=3 }} 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".
When a detail is reproduced, this is noted in the work of art's caption.
References
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Further reading
- {{cite book |last=Arasse |first=Daniel |author-link=:fr:Daniel Arasse |year=1992 |title=Le détail: pour une histoire rapprochée de la peinture |trans-title=The Detail: For a Close History of Painting |language=French |publisher=Flammarion |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-08-010962-0 |oclc=231856097 }}
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