Selected Sources for Gathering Background Information
Background research is a crucial step in the research process. In order to understand scholarly art historical and archaeology articles, we first need to understand fundamental information about time period, historical or mythological figures, art technique, society, and so on.
Use the information you already have about your selected work of art to develop a list of important context clues for yourself to investigate. Using this example of Exekias' vatican amphora, we can mine the catalog record for clues and then conduct searches in the following resources to begin our research.
"The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History pairs essays and works of art with chronologies, telling the story of art and global culture through the Museum’s collection."