ONLINE HISTORY COURSE “Living with Art in Renaissance Venice” Part 2

 Course Description:

Art was everywhere in Renaissance Venice: in the streets and piazzas, in homes, in churches, and even in houses of ill-repute.  The city itself became a work of art.

In this two-part course learn how Venetians used art to shape their city and their lives and how they presented themselves to the world at large. The course will explore painting, sculpture, and architecture from the thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries.  Rather than surveying this material chronologically or by artist, class sessions will focus on particular places that were defined and enlivened by art and architecture. 

Part One will look at art 1. In Piazza, 2. In Church, and 3. In the Act (art and architecture for sex workers); Part Two will examine art 4. At Home, 5. In the Neighborhood, and 6. In Seclusion (monasteries and the Ghetto).

Virtual Classroom: Full access to an online educational platform with videos of recordings, syllabus and readings.

Location: LIVE INTERACTIVE ON-LINE ART HISTORY LECTURES

Optional Readings: Information will be provided 2 weeks before the start of the course.

Complete syllabus will be provided 2 weeks before the start of the course.

• ALL LECTURES WILL BE RECORDED AND AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING AT YOUR CONVENIENCE IN OUR VIDEO LIBRARY FOR TWO WEEKS AFTER THE COURSE HAS ENDED.

LECTURE 1 - At Home

Monday, November 2

Visit Venetians in their splendid palaces, which they euphemistically called mere houses (ca’). Journeying down the Grand Canal see how facades developed over the centuries from the golden riches of the aptly named Ca d’Oro (House of Gold) to the monumental classical facades of Sansovino. Enter and admire portraits and other paintings and decorations exalting each family’s fame.

LECTURE 2 - In the Neighborhood

Monday, November 9

Open the doors to more modest homes and works of art commissioned by non-nobles and the citizen class to decorate community and charitable centers known as Scuole. Experience the intimate world painted by Carpaccio and grand cycles created by the Bellini and Tintoretto.

LECTURE 3 - In Seclusion

Monday, November 16

Cross into worlds purposely cut off from the rest of Venetian society: the Jewish ghetto and female convents.  See the inventiveness and defiance with which these segregated populations shaped and decorated their enclosed spaces.

Dr. Gary M. Radke is Professor Emeritus of Art History at Syracuse University, where he directed the Florence Graduate Program in Renaissance Art and was named Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence. His publications on Italian medieval and Renaissance art range from a book on the thirteenth-century papal palace in Viterbo to essays on the patronage of nuns in Renaissance Venice. He curated major loan exhibitions throughout the United States on Italian Renaissance sculptors Lorenzo Ghiberti, Luca della Robbia, Andrea del Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. His widely distributed college textbook on Italian Renaissance art, co-authored with John Paoletti, appeared in four editions and in Spanish and Chinese translations. Gary is past president of the Italian Art Society and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome. In retirement Professor Radke and his wife Nancy have settled into an historic home in Savannah, Georgia, where Gary is now a trustee of the Historic Savannah Foundation and chair of its Architectural Review Committee. He continues to write scholarly articles and enjoys lecturing in Italy for various cultural groups.