Details

ONLINE ART HISTORY COURSE
The Divine Michelangelo: His Life and His Works

Course Description:
Michelangelo Buonarroti’s artistic career spanned more than seven decades, during which he produced some of the most extraordinary works of art in history. Dividing his time between his native city of Florence and his adopted city of Rome, the “Divine Michelangelo,” as he was known, was the first true master of the major artistic disciplines of sculpture, painting, and architecture. This course will examine his epic life using milestone works of art and architecture to illustrate the chapters of his artistic biography.

Course Objectives:
• To learn to appreciate the rich and influential aspects of Italian Renaissance art and architecture.
• To bring a historical personality to life through a careful and attentive analysis of his artistic career
• To develop the fundamental skills of art historical analysis that include formal analysis and iconographic interpretation
• To develop an ability to interact in a personal and intimate manner with works of art and their surroundings

Credits: Certificate of Completion

Examination and assignments:
OPTIONAL FINAL EXAM – The format of the exams will consist in slide identifications with short answer questions, multiple choice questions, term definitions and short essay analyses.

Optional Textbook:
William E. Wallace, Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and His Times, New York, 2010.

Complete syllabus will be provided upon registration.

• ALL LECTURES WILL BE RECORDED AND AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING AT YOUR CONVENIENCE IN OUR VIDEO LIBRARY FOR THE DURATION OF THE COURSE
• PARTICIPANTS ARE ALLOWED TO SWITCH SECTION AT THEIR OWN CONVENIENCE

Schedule

WEEK 1 – YOUNG MICHELANGELO
Michelangelo began his artistic career at the age of 13 in the workshop of the Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. After only a single year, his talents captured the attention of Lorenzo il Magnifico De’Medici who invited the young artist to join his sculpture school and also his household. After the death of Lorenzo, Michelangelo traveled to Rome to make a name for himself.

– Monday June 22: THE EARLY DAYS: GHIRLANDAIO’S WORKSHOP AND THE MEDICI SCULPTURE GARDEN
– Wednesday June 24: THE FIRST ROMAN SOJOURN: BACCHUS, PIETÀ

WEEK 2 – EARLY STARDOM
When Michelangelo returned to Florence, he was already a celebrity. If the Pietà was Michelangelo’s first “number one hit”, few could have imagined that his next work of sculpture would overshadow it. In fact, the David would arguably overshadow every other sculpture in history! But almost as soon as he finished carving the giant statue, Michelangelo was asked to test his genius against Leonardo Da Vinci as each was asked to paint a giant battle mural in the great hall of Palazzo Vecchio.

– Monday June 29: THE FLORENTINE REPUBLIC PART I: DAVID
– Wednesday July 1: THE FLORENTINE REPUBLIC PART II: BATTLE AND DONI TONDO

WEEK 3 – MICHELANGELO AND POPE JULIUS III
Michelangelo left for Rome again in 1506 to execute the “mother of all tombs” for Pope Julius II. Nearly 40ft. tall, the tomb would have contained some 40 over-life-sized statues. After ordering 100 tons of marble to be shipped to Rome, Pope Julius changed his mind and put Michelangelo to work on painting the nearly 10,000ft2 the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which would occupy the next 4 ½ years of his life.

– Monday July 6: MICHELANGELO, POPE JULIUS II
– Wednesday July 8: Sistine Chapel PART I

WEEK 4 – MICHELANGELO AND THE MEDICI POPES
After finishing the Sistine ceiling and finally making some progress on the tomb of the now deceased Pope Julius II, Michelangelo would again abandon the tomb to work for two of his childhood friends from the Medici household who had gone on to become Popes Leo X and Clement VII. Both Popes would employ Michelangelo on various projects in Florence such as the façade of San Lorenzo, the New Sacristy, and the Laurentian Library.

Monday July 13 – Sistine Chapel PART II
Wednesday July 15 – THE MEDICI POPES IN FLORENCE PART I

WEEK 5: RETURN TO THE SISTINE CHAPEL
Twenty-four years after completing the ceiling, Michelangelo returned to the Sistine Chapel to paint its altar wall. His gigantic Last Judgement took five years to complete and scandalized Rome as many of its holy characters were depicted in the nude.

– July 20: THE MEDICI POPES IN FLORENCE PART II
– July 22: LAST JUDGEMENT

WEEK 6 – DIVINE MICHELANGELO
At the ripe old age of 71, Michelangelo took over the direction of the most important building project in Europe – the fabbrica of St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo redesigned the great building and saw construction through to the base of the cupola. This project would occupy the last 17 years of his life, during which he would twice revisit the Pietà theme to serve as his own funerary monument.

– Monday July 27: BUILDING ST. PETER’S
– Wednesday July 29: THE LATE PIETÀ’S STATUES

WEEK 7 – OPTIONAL FINAL EXAM

– Monday August 3: FINAL EXAM