Class Activity – Prehistory
Formal Analysis of the Woman of Willendorf through sketching
Materials needed: Pencil and paper
Set Up: Before beginning to talk about the Woman of Willendorf, ask the class to
take 3 minutes to sketch her. Tell them they are not graded upon their drawing
ability (or at all), but that this is a way of looking closely at an object. It is part of
formal analysis (explain this concept), something they will undertake all semester
as budding art historians.
If you wish, pair students, and ask them to complete this exercise together, with the
“artist” turned away from the screen and not allowed to look at the slide, and the
“analyzer” looking but not allowed to draw or use their hands in the process of
describing the sculpture. This puts the onus on the analyzer to describe slowly and
carefully what they see.
Take away: the students will have looked closely before you begin a process of
group formal analysis, opening with the question “what did you notice about this
object when you were drawing it?”