Detail (work of art)

Isolated element within a work of art

Detail of the putti from The Sistine Madonna by Raphael

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.[1]

## Overview

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A detail is distinct from the general composition of a work of art.[1] The art historian Jennifer Raab of Yale University describes it as inherently contradictory: "it can delineate difference or emphasize unity".[2] 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".[2]

When a detail is reproduced, this is noted in the work of art's caption.[2]

## References

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1. ^ a b "detail, n.: 4a.". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 June 2023. (subscription required)
2. ^ a b c Raab, Jennifer (2015). Frederic Church: The Art and Science of Detail. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 3\. ISBN 978-0-300-21286-0.

## Further reading

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* Arasse, Daniel [in French] (1992). Le détail: pour une histoire rapprochée de la peinture [The Detail: For a Close History of Painting] (in French). Paris: Flammarion. ISBN 978-2-08-010962-0. OCLC 231856097.

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