Detail (work of art)

A detail is an isolated element within a work of art, particularly from a painting, sculpture or building.^[1]

Detail of the putti from The Sistine Madonna by Raphael Entirety of The Sistine Madonna by Raphael

Overview

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]