Details

ONLINE HISTORY COURSE
“Lorenzo Ghiberti (c. 1378 – 1455): Artist and Entrepreneur”

Course Description:

When Lorenzo Ghiberti wrote that “few things of importance were made in our city that were not designed or devised by my hand” he was hardly boasting. Ghiberti’s creative energies spanned the entire first half of the fifteenth century, and he made a decisive impact on Florentine architecture, goldsmithing, painting, stained glass, and bronze. This four-week course will introduce you to Ghiberti’s fascinating life, his crucial role in the development of Renaissance art, his highly profitable business practices, and his literary achievements, too.

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.

Schedule

LECTURE 1 – Lorenzo Ghiberti: A Talent for Charm

-Monday, January 6

In this overview of Ghiberti’s biography, learn how the silver-tongued artist talked his way to success. See how Ghiberti rarely found a deadline he could not extend, a contract he could not enhance, or a tight situation he could not talk himself out of. No wonder he was the first artist to write an autobiography.

LECTURE 2 – 1401-1424: The Competition Panels and the North Doors of the Florentine Baptistery

-Monday, January 13

Rivalry and competition were central to Renaissance creativity. See how Ghiberti outwitted Brunelleschi and then stretched what everyone thought would be a four- or five-year project into decades of well-compensated creativity.

LECTURE 3 – 1410-1429 Ghiberti at Orsanmichele

-Monday, January 20

Concurrent with his work at the Florentine Baptistery, Ghiberti enhanced the civic granary of Orsanmichele with new architectural details, designs for stained glass, and three life-sized bronze statues. Witness how Ghiberti competed with Donatello in defining new concepts for Renaissance statuary.

LECTURE 4 – Making, Restoring, and Displaying the Gates of Paradise

-Monday, January 27

From 1425 to 1452 Ghiberti created a gilt bronze door so splendid and revolutionary that Michelangelo later dubbed it the Gates of Paradise. Learn what makes the Gates so special and how modern science and museology have extended its life well into the future.

Instructor

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.