ONLINE ART HISTORY COURSE
Masterpieces of 15th-Century Northern Renaissance Art

Course Description:

Throughout the arc of history, certain works of art have always been famous. They are exceptional in that they demonstrate the epitome of a prevailing style, display a virtuosic handling of artistic elements, or introduced a new way of thinking and seeing.  Though the Northern Renaissance offers many examples of important works that meet one or more of these criteria, the three presented here were exceptionally influential across national borders in the centuries following their creation.  Remarkably, they still exist today, and continue to transcend our expectations by their ability to communicate abstract ideas, their emotional power, and dazzling technique.

Instructor:

Laurinda Dixon is a specialist in northern European Renaissance art. Currently retired, she served as the William F. Tolley Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Syracuse University for many years. Her scholarship considers the intersection of art and science - particularly alchemy, medicine, astrology, and music - from the fifteenth though the nineteenth centuries. She has lectured widely in both the USA and Europe, and is the author of many articles, reviews, and eleven books, including Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine (1995), Bosch (2003), and The Dark Side of Genius: The Melancholic Persona in Art, ca. 1500-1700 (2013). Laurinda holds a Ph.D. in art history from Boston University, as well as a degree in piano performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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

Location: LIVE INTERACTIVE ON-LINE ART HISTORY LECTURES

Optional Readings:
Readings to be provided to students in PDF format prior to the beginning of course.

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

LECTURE 1 - THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS, THE TRES RICHES HEURES DU JEAN, DUC DE BERRY (The Very Rich Hours of Jean, Duke of Berry), ca. 1415

- Wednesday, April 12

Before the invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century, books were precious, one-of-a-kind objects, hand-made and decorated with miniature paintings and decorative marginalia. The Très Riches Heures was created by a team of brilliantly talented artist-brothers for the fabulously wealthy bibliophile and collector Jean, Duke of Burgundy.  Considered one of the great treasures of art history, this miracle of manuscript illumination is stored today in a bomb-proof bunker, where it cannot be damaged or destroyed (or even seen).

LECTURE 2 - JAN AND HUBERT VAN EYCK, THE GHENT ALTARPIECE, 1432.

- Wednesday, April 19

The magnificent Ghent Altarpiece, commissioned by the mayor of the city, consists of many individual panels hinged together.  Importantly, it bears the first reference to Jan van Eyck, the acknowledged "father of Northern Renaissance painting," paired with that of his brother Hubert.  Distinctive in its large scale, complex symbolism, photographic realism, and use of oil paint, this work inspired artists worldwide for centuries.  Once captured by the Nazis and hidden in a salt mine, the work has been meticulously restored.  However, art historians still debate the division of hands between the two van Eyck brothers and the fine points of its complex iconography.

LECTURE 3 - ALBRECHT DÜRER, APOCALYPSE, 15 WOODCUTS, 1498

- Wednesday, April 26

As the year 1500 approached, Christians feared the approach of the "last days," as foretold in the Biblical Book of Revelation and prophesied by holy men such as Savanarola and Joachim of Fiore. The German artist Albrecht Dürer, a master of the new print medium, capitalized on this cultural obsession, and, in the first documented instance of artistic entrepreneurship, published and marketed his vibrant series of woodcut prints himself. These works on paper capture the drama of the end of the world as never before, as near mass hysteria gripped Europe in the waning years of the 15^thcentury. Dürer’s brilliant gamble made him famous across all of Europe.

Laurinda Dixon is a specialist in northern European Renaissance art. Currently retired, she served as the William F. Tolley Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Syracuse University for many years. Her scholarship considers the intersection of art and science - particularly alchemy, medicine, astrology, and music - from the fifteenth though the nineteenth centuries. She has lectured widely in both the USA and Europe, and is the author of many articles, reviews, and eleven books, including Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine (1995), Bosch (2003), and The Dark Side of Genius: The Melancholic Persona in Art, ca. 1500-1700 (2013). Laurinda holds a Ph.D. in art history from Boston University, as well as a degree in piano performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.