AH10070 Dublin: Its Museums and Collections Mid-Term Essay Autumn 2026: Compare and Contrast Two Artworks (UCD)

This UCD art history elective, aimed mainly at visiting students, asks you to see two artworks in person in Dublin’s museums, such as the National Gallery of Ireland or Trinity College Dublin, and write a comparative essay. You choose one of four pairings, build a clear thesis around how the two works differ in style, purpose and setting, and support it with footnoted scholarly reading.

Essay Question

Students are asked to visit two works of art on view in Dublin, and then choose ONE of the options below:

1. Compare and contrast the illustrations in The Book of Kells and Bartolomeo Passarotti’s St Jerome.
2. Compare and contrast Francesco Granacci’s Rest on the Flight into Egypt with the Infant Saint John the Baptist with Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ.
3. Compare and contrast Tintoretto’s Portrait of an Unknown Senator and Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Charles Coote.
4. Compare and contrast Johannes Vermeer’s Woman Writing a Letter and Claude Monet’s Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat.

Writing Your Essay

• Present a strong thesis in the opening paragraph and develop your argument in the main body.
• The final paragraph should conclude the thesis and draw attention to the main points that prove it, without introducing new evidence.
• Avoid vague, flowery or emotional language; every word counts within the word limit.
• Keep quotations to a minimum and reference all sources correctly, including internet sites, following the School’s guidelines on Brightspace.
• Do not rely on general websites such as Wikipedia, Smarthistory or Khan Academy; use scholarly sources such as Oxford Art Online, JSTOR, Archive.org and the UCD Library art history guides.
• Plagiarism or use of AI results in a failing grade.

Format and Referencing

• 1,500 to 2,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography.
• Submit as a single PDF with the module essay cover sheet through Brightspace; double-spaced text at 12 pt with numbered pages.
• Write as one continuous piece: no subheadings or bullet points.
• Footnotes and a full bibliography are required, with at least three recommended texts used and cited in the text.
• Illustrations are optional; if used, place them at the end of the essay and reference them correctly.