Details

ONLINE ART HISTORY COURSE
Italian Art and Architecture: Giotto to Michelangelo (1300-1564)

Course Description:

This course will explore the development of art and architecture in Italy from the late Middle Ages through the High Renaissance. Through an in-depth analysis of the art, architecture, and history of these periods, we shall develop an understanding of Italy’s role in the overall development of Western civilization. Particular emphasis will be given to those Italian cities that exhibit particularly well-integrated conceptions of painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Course Objectives:

• To learn to appreciate the rich and influential aspects of Italian Renaissance art and architecture.
• To bring a historical period to life through a “hands on” approach to the monuments and works produced during this specific period known as the Renaissance
• 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

Virtual Classroom: Full access to an online educational platform with syllabus, videos of recordings, reading list, podcasts, discussion forum, and more.

Credits: Certificate of Completion

Location: LIVE INTERACTIVE ON-LINE ART HISTORY LECTURES

Examination and assignments:
OPTIONAL FINAL EXAM – The format of the exams will consist of short essay analyses.

Optional Textbook:
John T. Paoletti and Gary M. Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy, 4th Edition.

• ALL LECTURES WILL BE RECORDED AND AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING AT YOUR CONVENIENCE IN OUR VIDEO LIBRARY FOR THE DURATION OF THE COURSE
• PARTICIPANTS ARE FREE TO ATTEND EITHER CLASS TIME

Schedule

WEEK 1 – FRANCISCAN ART AND PHILOSOPHY

– Monday, September 13: Lecture 1 – Franciscan Philosophy and the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi 

This lecture this will examine the art, architecture, and history of the great shrine to St. Francis in Assisi that was decorated by a veritable all-star team of late-13th/early-14th-century artists such as Cimabue, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti, and perhaps even Giotto. We shall also discuss how St. Francis of Assisi changed the way people saw the world in the Middle Ages. His love and celebration of nature may have indeed been the spark that ignited the Renaissance.

– Wednesday, September 15: Lecture 2 – The Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence

This lecture will examine the art, architecture, and history of the church of Santa Croce in Florence, which is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Most famous for its celebrity tombs, including those of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, this Gothic church also contains extraordinary fresco cycles by the great painter Giotto and sculptures by Donatello.

WEEK 2 – ART IN ARCHITECTURE IN MEDIEVAL SIENA, CITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY

– Monday, September 20: Lecture 3 – Religious Art and Architecture, Siena

In the first half of the 14th century, the city of Siena was Florence’s main political, economic, and artistic rival. Artists such as Duccio, Simone Martini, and Ambrogio Lorenzetti were members of one of Europe’s most important schools of painting. This lecture will examine the religious art and architecture in Siena in order to understand the city’s unique beauty and rivalry with Florence. We shall discuss the striking Gothic cathedral of Siena and examine the various artistic works which adorned it.

– Wednesday, September 22: Lecture 4 – Civic Art and Architecture, Siena

The lecture will examine the civic architecture of Siena as embodied in the city’s most important civic structure – the Palazzo Pubblico. This late 13th-century building still serves as Siena’s town hall and preserves some of the most important murals of the 14th Century. Through an in-depth analysis of these murals, beginning with Simone Martini’s Maestà in the former room of the “Great Council” and then the Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the “Room of the Nine”- Siena’s medieval Oval Office – we will come to understand that the governing principles of an effective democracy transcend time.

WEEK 3 – THE DAWN OF RENAISSANCE PAINTING: GIOTTO AND THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL IN PADUA

– Monday, September 27: Lecture 5 – The Paintings of the Scrovegni Chapel, Part I

Giotto’s 14th-century fresco cycle in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, is perhaps the seminal motion picture in Western Art. The artist transformed the iconic, sacred subjects of his contemporary painting world into a very human story – or what I like to call the “visual vernacular.” This lecture will examine a surprisingly modern aspect of Giotto’s work, that is the cinematic quality, as well as the history and patronage of the chapel.

– Wednesday, September 29: Lecture 6 – The Paintings of the Scrovegni Chapel, Part II

This lecture will continue to examine Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel. Giotto’s mise-en-scène is full of expressive character types, landscapes, color, and visual arrangements. The sequential arrangement and juxtaposition of scenes, instead, produce a visual narrative of which most modern film directors would be envious. In a purely visual medium, Giotto is able to evoke sounds and smells, emotions and expectations, humor and terror.