AS
History of Art
HART1 Visual Analysis and Interpretation
Mark scheme
2250
June 2016
Version 1.0 Final Mark Scheme
Mark schemes are prepared by the Lead Assessment Writer and considered, together with the
relevant questions, by a panel of subject teachers. This mark scheme includes any amendments
made at the standardisation events which all associates participate in and is the scheme which was
used by them in this examination. The standardisation process ensures that the mark scheme covers
the students’ responses to questions and that every associate understands and applies it in the same
correct way. As preparation for standardisation each associate analyses a number of students’
scripts. Alternative answers not already covered by the mark scheme are discussed and legislated
for. If, after the standardisation process, associates encounter unusual answers which have not been
raised they are required to refer these to the Lead Assessment Writer.
It must be stressed that a mark scheme is a working document, in many cases further developed and
expanded on the basis of students’ reactions to a particular paper. Assumptions about future mark
schemes on the basis of one year’s document should be avoided; whilst the guiding principles of
assessment remain constant, details will change, depending on the content of a particular
examination paper.
Further copies of this mark scheme are available from aqa.org.uk.
Copyright © 2016 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this
booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any
material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre.
MARK SCHEME – AS HISTORY OF ART – HART1 – JUNE 2016
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HART 1
Aims
When you are marking scripts your aim should be:
1 to identify and reward the achievements of candidates;
2 to ensure consistency of assessment for all candidates, regardless of question or
examiner.
Approach
Please be positive when marking scripts, looking to reward relevant points that candidates
make rather than to penalise what they don’t know.
A specification of this type must recognise the variety of experiences and knowledge that
candidates bring to the examination.
Please use the full mark range.
The Principles of ‘Best Fit’
This paper requires candidates to make three extended responses in essay format.
A grid is used which, while recognising the need to consider different aspects of each response
(AO1, AO2 and AO3), also attempts to consider the response as a whole.
Ultimately the response should be placed at a level that ‘best fits’ its qualities.
The individual mark scheme for each image contains a bulleted list of points that could be made in
response to the question (it is as comprehensive as possible to negate, as much as possible, the
use of ‘other points considered to be valid to be given credit’ but please note that students do not
need to cover all of these to receive maximum marks.
The Marking Grid
The marking grid covers the generic qualities of all essays written as responses on this paper in
terms of their knowledge (AO1), their understanding (AO2) and their ability to communicate (AO3).
Guidance is also provided on how to select the correct mark within a chosen mark band.
Annotating Scripts
It is important that the way you arrive at a mark should be recorded on the script.
This will help
• you with making accurate judgements and it will help any subsequent markers to identify
how you are thinking, should adjustment need to be made.
To this end you should:
• identify points of merit
• write a brief summative comment at the end of each response, in line with the chosen mark
band descriptor to avoid ambiguity
• put a total in the margin at the end of each response.
MARK SCHEME – AS HISTORY OF ART – HART1 – JUNE 2016
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Unit 1 Mark Scheme
Mark
range
AO1 Knowledge
Source, select, recall
material to demonstrate
knowledge effectively
AO2 Understanding
Demonstrate
understanding through
analysis and make
substantiated
judgements and
sustained discussion
and/or arguments
AO3 Communication
Present a clear and
coherent response
Band 6
17 – 20
Excellent
response
to the
question
detailed and
appropriate
sourcing, selection
and recall
• Entirely inclusive
description
• Excellent and
sustained analysis
and discussion
• Thoroughly
relevant and well-
considered
argument and
judgement
• Thoroughly clear,
coherent and accurate
use of language
• Sustained and wholly
relevant organisation of
material
Band 5
13 – 16
Good
response
to the
question
appropriate
sourcing, selection
and recall
• Comprehensive
description
• Good analysis and
discussion
• Germane argument
and judgement
• Very clear, coherent
and accurate use of
language
• Competent
organisation of material
Band 4
9 – 12
Competent
response
to the
question
sourcing, selection
and recall
• Relatively
comprehensive
description
• Competent
analysis and
discussion
• Some meaningful
argument and
judgement
• Clear, coherent and
accurate use of
language
• Adequately effective
organisation of material
Band 3
5 – 8
Limited
response
to the
question
selection and recall
• Partial description
• Simplistic analysis
and discussion
• Limited argument
and judgement
• Limited clarity,
coherence and
accuracy of language
• Some appropriately
organised material
Band 2
1 – 4
Inadequate
response
to the
question
selection and recall
• Weak description
• Little or ineffective
analysis and
discussion
• Little or no
argument and
judgement
• Unclear and inaccurate
use of language
• Ineffective organisation
of material
Band 1
0
No attempt to address the question or meet assessment objectives
MARK SCHEME – AS HISTORY OF ART – HART1 – JUNE 2016
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Four marks are available for each mark band. From lowest to highest, the mark indicates
the candidate has -
• Just met the requirements described in that particular mark band
• Adequately met the requirements described in that particular mark band
• Clearly met the requirements described in that particular mark band
• Convincingly met the requirements described in that particular mark band, but just failed to
meet the requirements set out in the next band.
MARK SCHEME – AS HISTORY OF ART – HART1 – JUNE 2016
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1 Raphael, Saint George and the Dragon, c.1506 (oil on panel) (28.5 cm x 21.5 cm)
(National Gallery of Art, Washington).
Discuss the figures and animals and their setting in this painting and analyse the artist’s
treatment of light and space.
(20 marks)
If only discussion of the figures and animals and their setting is given or if only analysis of
treatment of light and space is given, the maximum is Band 4
Figures, animals and setting
• Title and composition suggest narrative relationship involving figures and animals: a mounted
soldier/St. George engaged in combat with winged reptile/dragon (pierced by lance); a
woman witnesses scene from middle distance.
• St. George and horse are centrally placed in foreground and dominate composition in
diagonal/pyramidal arrangement.
• Natural organic colours create harmonious scene; enlivened with reds and blues.
• St George shown as heroic: dominant over dragon, halo, youthful good looks, valiant conduct
and picture’s title all emphasise his importance.
• Status of St. George presented as warrior clad in expensive armour.
• Fine white horse suggests nobility.
• St. George is presented as cool and dynamic in face of danger: movement of billowing cloak;
apparently effortless in control of his spirited horse, emotionless facial expression in profile.
• Subsidiary female figure: in middle ground, detached from the violence.
• Female figure presented as youthful and with smooth complexion, dressed in striking red
fabric; with halo, kneeling in prayer, perhaps in gratitude.
• Human figures and horse are idealised and presented with life-like anatomy and proportion,
dragon is a creature of myth and fable.
• Dress of human figures and horse is contemporary; blue colour unifies figure and horse.
• Horse is energised by drama of conflict: rears up on hind legs with raised tail in exaggerated
expression of movement.
• Horse turns to engage with viewer; figures do not engage with viewer.
• Dragon is presented as threatening, fearsome and ignoble: scaly appearance, short limbs
and crawling demeanour, sharp teeth about to bite horse.
• Dragon has twisting forms suggesting pain and escape from stabbing motion of lance.
• Action is framed on either side by rising ground and trees.
• Action set in rural landscape; neat organisation of nature.
• Passage of still water with reflection on right enhances serenity of setting.
• Presence of towers in distance indicates proximity of town/human habitation.
• Cave on left suggests dragon’s lair.
• Serenity of setting is in contrast to violent relationship between main figures.
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Treatment of light and space
• Cloudless blue sky takes up a third of the pictorial space and enhances serene atmosphere.
• High horizon focuses attention on action in foreground.
• Consistent unseen light source creates light and dark areas.
• Cast shadows and tonal modelling create an illusion of depth and dimension.
• Sun highlights flank of horse, head of dragon, face of woman; reflects off armour of St
George: conveys metallic texture.
• Dragon tonally darker than white horse and merges with its surroundings; casts more
pronounced shadows on ground than horse: symbolic of ignobility.
• Viewer is located spatially close to the action: precisely painted plants and rock at bottom
suggest link between picture’s space and viewer’s.
• Cropping of tail of horse and foreleg of dragon suggest continuation of space beyond limits of
picture.
• Foreshortening is apparent: horse projects diagonally into picture space from bottom right;
establishes movement into the scene.
• Landscape features arranged in apparent planes parallel to picture plane create depth and
recession.
• Overlapping features add sense of space: evident in placing of figures, animals and
landscape forms.
• Distance created through effects of atmospheric (aerial) perspective employing lighter tones
on horizon, horizontal tonal banding and varying degrees of definition.
• Recessional scale correctly used throughout: animals and figure in foreground larger than
woman in middle ground, trees decrease in scale as they recede, buildings depicted small on
horizon suggesting linear perspective.
Other points considered to be valid to be given credit.
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2 Artus Quellinus the Elder, Portrait of Andries de Graeff, 1661 (marble)
(76 cm × 76 cm × 36 cm) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).
Discuss how the artist has represented the figure in this sculpture and consider the ways in
which the material and techniques have contributed to the form and appearance.
(20 marks)
If only discussion of the representation of the figure is given or only a discussion of material
and techniques is given, the maximum is Band 4.
Representation of the figure
• Approximately life-sized portrait bust of a middle-aged man.
• Figure wears contemporary dress: skull cap, broad collar, closely buttoned tunic and loosely
fitting cloak.
• Representation of figure life-like and probably based on close observation: precise definition
of veins of hand; jowly, fleshy face with double chin suggests non-idealised representation.
• Jowly, fleshy quality of face invites us to suppose him well fed/prosperous.
• Figure is represented as seemingly superior, with a serious thoughtful expression.
• Dramatic upright pose established by sweeping up of drapery by the right hand, and the
implication of the left arm behind the back; creates an immediate impact and suggests
authority and status of figure.
• Figure does not make eye contact with viewer; pupils have not been represented.
• Aquiline nose and high, well defined cheekbones suggest figure is of distinguished
appearance.
• Elegantly flowing locks frame figure’s face; this and neatly trimmed facial hair suggest he is a
man of fashion and fastidious about his appearance.
• Elaborately ornamented collar and abundance of precisely finished button holes on tunic
suggest clothes are expensive/fashionable.
• Composed within a pyramidal format.
• Diagonal lines softened by broken staggered vertical running down bridge of nose, beard,
central crease in collar, tunic buttons and tunic cuff.
• Loosely parallel horizontals established by bottom edge of collar and right arm, and by
diagonals of fingers echoing diagonal of left shoulder, soften pyramidal format.
• Animation through repetition of curves in clothing and hair; renders figure more alive/lifelike.
• Supported on a discrete pedestal; its straight lines and rectilinear form contrast with swathes
of drapery above.
• Overhanging draperies extend the sculpture beyond edge of pedestal in both dimensions;
pedestal does not establish barrier between figure and viewer, and inscription on pedestal
suggests it is integral to the conception.
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Contribution of Material and Technique to Form and Appearance
• Monochrome of white marble unites all parts of sculpture and pedestal.
• White marble associated with antiquity, nobility, status and wealth.
• Compact and closed composition with no features extending without support: hair gives
support to head, collar supported on cloak, hand pressed close to body; reflecting low tensile
strength of marble.
• Carving is enabled by softness of marble, seen in folds of drapery and closely observed
anatomical detail such as tendons on back of hand and contours of face.
• Softness of marble enables virtuosic depiction of flimsy collar with delicate patterns.
• Marble facilitates the creation of a variety and contrast of textures: smoothness of skin, folds
of drapery, smooth front of tunic and texture of hair.
• Translucency of marble, achieved through polishing, approximates flesh.
• Pyramidal composition provides low centre of gravity and stability.
• Undercutting intensifies shadows and gives greater definition to draperies, collar, hand and
chin.
• Use of a drill enables precise definition of curls in hair and patterns in collar.
• Folds of drapery arranged to give sense of movement and add greater definition to form of
figure’s arm beneath.
Other points considered to be valid to be given credit.
.
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3 Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint, Grundtvig’s Church, West Front, Copenhagen, 1921-1926
(brick)
Analyse the composition of this building and comment on how its features express status
and function.
(20 marks)
If only an analysis of composition is given or only comment on status and function is given,
the maximum is Band 4.
Analysis of Composition
• Emphatically vertical structure; considerably taller than wide.
• Symmetrical composition deriving powerful effect from bold lines and clear geometry.
• Building is divided into three vertical bays (tripartite ABA arrangement); central bay is widest
and tallest.
• Composed of three levels linked by triangular forms which point upwards: a lower element
encompasses doorways, central element of plainer masonry and a third rises much higher
above it.
• Articulation of central bay and buttresses contrasts with recessed bays and archivolts; lower
element stands forward of higher element.
• Plinth of large square stone blocks and steps create stability and contrast with brick and
wood.
• Three arched entrances: wider central bay identified through larger doorway and prominent
upward step in expanse of plain brickwork.
• Sense of mass through thickness of masonry shown by surrounding archivolts and expanse
of brickwork.
• Verticality of lower section suggested by decorative brickwork and zig-zag stepped gable.
• Horizontal rhythms of lower section: vertical decoration divided by horizontals to establish
grid pattern; width emphasised by relationship with ground.
• Central section includes a circular blind window, which is emphasised as a focal point as it
sits in the centre of an expanse of plain masonry, and is recessed with a surround echoing
the ground level archivolts.
• Higher section asserts relationship with sky: verticals converge towards a central point as
they rise; openings and decoration accentuate vertical sensation, culminating in three
apexes.
• Stepped buttresses frame the building.
• Repeated patterns of elements such as stepped triangles and vertical decoration unite
façade.
• Contrast of plain and decorative brickwork balances façade.
• Contrast of geometric straight lines with curved shapes of blind window and arched
doorways.
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Expression of status and function
• Large scale and monumental form imply importance.
• Scale implies grand internal space able to accommodate large number of people.
• Multiple entrances provide for large numbers of people entering or leaving building at same
time; the recessed nature of the portals guide visitors through the entrances.
• Verticality suggests aspiration towards heaven, while horizontality links it to earth.
• Rises high above adjacent domestic buildings: dominates its immediate surroundings.
• Pattern of ornamentation suggests organ pipes; emphasises traditions of music making
associated with worship.
• Colour of brickwork unifies building, as does the regular grid pattern formed by closely
spaced joints in masonry; gives sense of integrity and gravitas.
• Openings in upper register may let in light and have associations with worship; may be used
for acoustic purposes; no other visible fenestration, particularly in lower register.
• Invokes authority of traditions of gothic church architecture: vertical emphasis, division of
façade into three tall bays with central one highest, three doorways.
• Attempts to make a contemporary/modern statement about these traditions and suggests
values associated with them remain contemporary.
• No obvious Christian symbolism or decoration – absence of a cross or figural sculpture; the
aesthetic of the building is created by geometric simplicity.
• Elaborate/ornamental brickwork requires labour of skilled craftsmen and is expensive.
Other points considered to be valid to be given credit.