Intended Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the impor tance of studying

humanities in examining art
• Read the art forms using the four planes of
analysis
What is Humanities?
Humanities, from the latin word humanus, meaning culture, human and
refined. To ascribe to being human, one needs to manifest quality such as
tenderness, rationality and sensitivity. Among the qualities mentioned, what
separates us from, and what gives us supremacy among all others animals is
our capacity to reason out. Your dog may understand your words when you
say “sit,” but cannot give you reason of his existence.

To put it simply, humanities is a field that deals with the human condition,
and that utilizes methods that are evidently analytic and also critical.
Specifically, in humanities, the concern will have to revolve around learning
constructed with the arts, and learning that pertains to how man expresses
his innermost thoughts and feelings, and how his relationships are built
overtime.
What do we study Humanities?

Engaging in the study of humanities will enable us to describe

how people process and document their existence. This
foremost would record his experiences and dealings with the
others through the art forms he/she produced. This would tell us
how things came to be in the present, and how it would
continue to affect the future.
In the study of humanities, we will be keeping these questions in
mind as to understand the motives behind art production:

a. How do human beings behave?

b. Why do they behave this way?
c. How do humans interact with each other?
d. How do human beings interpret the world around them?
e. What kind of political, social and cultural institutions do they
form?
Approaches to studying Humanities

There are two approaches in out study of arts and humanities,

particularly synchronic and diachronic.
Synchronic Approach questions:

§ What brush stroke technique did the artist

apply in this art work?
§ Judging from the pigments used, which art
style does this belong to?
§ What medium was used in the painting?
§ What is the subject of the painting?
Portrait of Madam Matisse § Does the painting depict light and shadow?
by Henri Matisse, c. 1905 § What lines were used in this painting?
§ Is the painting symmetrical or asymmetrical?

David and Goliath by Orazio Gentileschi
c. 1605 – 1607 (Baroque Art)
Diachronic Approach questions:
§ How are the subjects of Renaissance Art compared to Baroque
Art? What does it say about the society at that time?
§ Why is it that Renaissance paintings glorify the naked human
body?
§ Why is it that Baroque paintings have subjects that are clothed?
§ Why is it that Renaissance paintings are brighter compared to
the tones and colors of Baroque paintings?
§ Why is it that Baroque paintings tend to be more detailed than
the Renaissance painting? What does this depict about the beliefs
and values at that time?
§ Why is it that most Renaissance paintings and sculptures involve
divine beings, and Baroque mostly have normal human beings as
subjects?
These two approaches, in connection to the study of
humanities, will actually help us in:
ü Developing new insights
ü Understanding the human experiences and conditions
ü Motivating to raise questions
ü Developing critical thinking ability
ü Augmenting creative thinking and creativity skills
ü Fostering social justice and equality
Understanding Works of Art

In assessing, evaluating and appraising works of art, there could

be a myriad of criteria that an onlooker or an ordinary
audience may use, however, there are four planes of analysis
that may be used to examine works of art. According to an
essay titled “Reading the Image” by Alice G. Guillermo (2001),
the image can be examined using the basic semiotic plane,
the iconic plane, and the contextual plane, and the evaluative
plane.