Sample citations for Art History classes
Textbook: (Cite a specific chapter or article title)
Kleiner, Fred. “The Roman Empire.” Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History.
Enhanced 13th edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2011. 237-287.
VitalSource Bookshelf. Digital File.
Or:
Kleiner, Fred. “Roman Concrete Construction.” Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A
Global History. Enhanced 13th edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2011.
231. VitalSource Bookshelf. Digital File.
Met Timeline of Art History articles:
Lightfoot, Christopher. "The Roman Empire (27 B.C.–393 A.D.)." Heilbrunn Timeline
of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. October 2000.
Web. Date accessed.
Note that the Met doesn’t use MLA style, so you have to translate the information they
provide at the bottom of each article. Lightfoot’s expertise (and thus his authority to
comment on this period) is also listed at the bottom of the page: Department of Greek and
Roman art at the Met. (This means he’s not only employed by the Met, but that he holds the
credentials that enable him to write articles on specialized subjects.)
SmartHistory articles:
Harris, Beth and Steven Zucker. “Ancient Rome.” Smarthistory. Khan Academy. 15
May 2012. Web. Date Accessed.
Tip: click the “i” button on videos to locate authors and dates on this site.
Augustus of Prima Porta. 1st century CE. Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican Museums,
Rome. Wikipedia. Web. Date accessed.
In your annotation, note the person who took the photo (this will appear on a chart toward
the bottom of the page when you click to enlarge the image).
Works in Museums
Portrait of Augustus as General, from Primaporta, Italy. Ca. 20 BCE. Musei Vaticani,
Rome. Gardener’s Art Through the Ages, Enhanced 13th edition. 254.
This is the same image as above, but as it appears in the textbook. In general, it’s best to look
up the work at the museum where it’s located in order to obtain the most direct (and usually
easiest) citation:
Augustus of Prima Porta. Ca. 20 BCE. Collections Online. Vatican Museums. Date
Accessed.
When an artist is known, list his or her name first:
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Pieta. Ca. 1498-1500. Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City,
Rome. Saint Peter’s Basilica. Web. Date Accessed.
In this case the St. Peter’s website is the most direct source. Or you can use the textbook:
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Pieta. Ca. 1498-1500. Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City,
Rome. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, Enhanced 13th edition. 589.
Normally the “last” name would be reversed; but in the Renaissance, Michelangelo was
known simply as Michelangelo, and “Buonarroti” simply places him as a member of the
Buonarroti family. You can list him simply as Michelangelo if you prefer.
Remember that you will need to annotate each citation to indicate that you
understand the qualifications of any person you’re using as a source, as well as what
that person or article contributed to your understanding of the work. Annotations
can be set aside by block indenting them and lowering the size of the font as I have
done above.
See the Purdue Online Writing Lab pages on MLA style for further information and
sample citations.
Examples of how to annotate sources are included on the Flintstone Bibliography.