Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AH 295"
COURSE NAME: "Early Italian Renaissance Art"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2022

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Carolyn Smyth
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 3:00 PM 4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Partially on-site; mandatory 3-day trip to Florence
OFFICE HOURS: TBA

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The first half of a two-part study of art and architecture in central Italy (Rome, Florence, and Siena) covering the period from the 14th to the mid-15th century. While attention is given to the ambience from which Giotto developed in the Trecento, and to the International Gothic style at the turn of the Quattrocento, major consideration is given to the momentous changes brought about in the first half of the Quattrocento by Brunelleschi, Alberti, Donatello, Ghiberti, Masaccio, and others. Numerous on-site visits in Rome and a trip to Florence are an essential part of the course. Mandatory field trip may require fees.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

In Early Renaissance Italy, a new type of art emerged that was to change the concept of looking and representation, and the relationships between artist and patron, viewer and artwork. Beginning with the revolutionary vision of such artists and architects as Donatello, Ghiberti, Masaccio and Brunelleschi in the early 15thC, and concluding with the flourishing of art and architecture in Florence under Cosimo de’Medici, this course will investigate the culture and accomplishments of a period of creativity which lay the critical groundwork for Western art until the later 19thC.

A basically chronological exploration of works of painting, sculpture and architecture, especially in Florence, will present a consideration of major art historical issues concerning this period. Students should gain familiarity not only with the selected artworks themselves, but also with the historical, religious and social context in which they were produced, and debates concerning style, patronage, function, iconography and meaning. Other topics will include art and the role of women, family identity, monastic life, the miraculous image, and other recent fields of inquiry.

Investigation will include: the Renaissance “rediscovery” and reinterpretation of antiquity; the relationship of humanist study to art; the social and economic structures of art patronage; observation of nature and artistic convention; narrative and “istoria”; the effects of religious thought and practice on the devotional image; portraiture and social identity; civic pride and self-imaging in Florentine art; perspective as science and as symbolic space.

An important aspect of the course will be on-site study, in Rome (for your Journals) and, especially, in Florence. These experiences will give students the opportunity to examine works of the Early Renaissance in person, and often in their original context. Though the Renaissance was slow to arrive in Rome, and few monuments from the early 15C survive, you will be visiting museums and sites relevant for the course as well.

Textbook and Readings:

Stephen Campbell and Michael Cole, Italian Renaissance Art, NY: Thames and Hudson, 2012. N6915.C35 ON RESERVE

Frederick Hartt and David Wilkins, History of Renaissance Art. Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Lawrence King Publishing, 2011, 7th ed. ON RESERVE

Several supplementary readings will be required for each lesson, including writings from Renaissance sources such as Alberti and Vasari, plus selections chosen from the work of a variety of modern scholars, to introduce you to some different methods, views and approaches. Recommended articles and book chapters will also be suggested.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will be expected to develop, in the course of the semester, the following:

- A familiarity with period and individual styles of Late Gothic and Early Renaissance art through a study of major works. Ready recognition of selected works, and knowledge of relevant factual information.

- Command of problems of interpretation in relation to the study of

selected works; basic familiarity with subject matter and iconography,

function, patronage and purpose

- An understanding of different art historical methodologies and views of the period through selected readings by major scholars in the field

- A familiarity with some contemporary sources and writings on Early Renaissance art.

- A basic understanding of the historical, political and social context in which this art and architecture was produced and in which artists and architects were formed.

- Development of critical thinking about art and art history through course readings, assignments and class discussion

- Improved research skills through use of not simply the JCU library (and ideally, others in Rome), JStor, and use of bibliographical sources, published and electronic.

- Furthering of writing skills: declaration and development of a clearly stated theme, organization, discussion of distinctive views and approaches, written expression and structure.

- Furthering of oral communication skills, through class discussion.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
Please see Syllabus	and the Schedule of Classes	for specific readings	more will arrive in some sections

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments
Required readings: see	the Schedule	of Classes	XXXX

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments
XXXXX	Recommended Readings	are also included	on the Schedule

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Midterm Examination	You will be asked to identify slides, and to write comparative essays on pairs of slides. In addition, you will be shown a slide of a work probably not familiar to you, to analyze and to compare to known works. A “Monument List” will be given to you in anticipation of the exam as well as more detailed instructions. All works on the List will be drawn from the textbook, with the exception of a few here in Rome.	15%
Final Examination	The Final Examination will follow the same format as the Midterm: a monument list will also be provided as above. This exam will include in addition an essay question which will propose a theme interrelating various works and issues discussed during the semester, as well as readings. NB: Final Examinations will take place during the designated Examination Period; DO NOT make plans to leave Rome before this period!	20%
Journal	There are several notable works of Late Gothic and Early Renaissance art in collections and churches in Rome and most especially in Florence for you to examine. The Journal should consist of four entries, each including a carefully considered analysis of a single work of art which is you have studied attentively and in person, not simply in reproduction. It is important that entries be written on the spot, since ideas develop as you write and look in context. The student is required to purchase a notebook for the Journal entries – loose bits of paper are not a Journal! A list of possible candidates for topics will be made available. The Journal is an informal but significant written assignment in which skills developed so far in the course may be demonstrated, and your learning progress made evident. Several paintings, sculptures and reliefs, and works of architecture should be addressed, in both Rome and Florence. More detailed instructions, including suggested lists of sites and works, and format and procedure, will be given to you immediately.	15%
Critical Reviews of two scholarly writings	Select two scholarly writings on a work of art or architecture from the period under investigation (ca. 1380-1470), and write a succinct, well-organized summary of each. Guidelines will be provided in anticipation of the assignment.	15%
Oral Research Presentation	Each student will select a work of art or architecture, and perform in-depth research to present to the class. Please note the title of this assignment and the weight given to it in the assessment: Oral Research Presentation, 25%. A list of suggested topics will be given to you in advance. In addition to basic “facts” on your monument, you should also review scholarly articles and books and be able to discuss the relevant historical context, visual and textual sources, patronage, interpretation, and other art historical issues. PLEASE NOTE: Internet Websites such as Wikipedia and its derivatives are NOT scholarly sources! The presentation will be assessed for the depth of your visual analysis, research, organization, use of handouts or supplementary material, presentation style and engagement. Each presenter will also submit, at the talk, an outline and a final bibliography of specialized literature on the topic, with annotations concerning the significance and method of each article/book. The topic is to be chosen well in advance to give ample time for research; the bibliography is also to be submitted in advance. Each student is to meet with me at least once well in anticipation of the week before the presentation.	25%
Class Participation and Discussion	Be sure to have completed the assigned readings before each class – these will consist of textbook sections, and the selected supplementary readings. Attendance is naturally a requirement of the course, since much material will be presented in lectures and discussions which is not available in the readings. Active participation and discussion in class and visits is of course toward your benefit for the grade – but also, helpful contributions and questions relevant to the material under consideration also make the class more interesting and lively for all of us. (NB: If it seems you are listless in performing the required readings, quizzes will ensue - and none of us want that.)	10%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Schedule of Classes

PRECISE DATES: TBA

Dates for Lessons / Due dates for Assignments forthcoming / Midterm Date TBA

STUDY VISIT IN FLORENCE: dates forthcoming

Please be patient, and recognize that Professors have: other courses, and other professional and life responsibilities that must be planned and adjusted for the weekend of teaching AH295 in Florence. Notice of the Florence Study Weekend will be arriving in a few weeks.

CLASS 1) Introduction to the course; content and assignments

CLASS 2) Introduction con: Discussion of art-historical approaches

Reading:

Hartt and Wilkins (henceforth: HW), History of Italian Renaissance Art, Introduction (Chapter 1) and Chapter 5, “Later Gothic Art in Tuscany,” 137-148

“The Life of Jesus in Art”, two-page extract from the textbook to the Introductory course, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, vol. II

CLASS 3) Art in Italy ca. 1348-1400.

After the accomplishments of Giotto, Duccio and others in the late 13-early 14C, and around the time of the devastating Black Death, (the plague that decimated the population of Europe), art began to take a new direction. Many have seen this as a decline, citing the tendencies away from the “naturalism” toward a certain severity and flatness of form. We will discuss this issue, contrasting the views of Meiss and Maginnis, and looking at some works of the later Trecento ourselves.

Reading:

Millard Meiss, Chapter I, “The New Form and Content,” in Painting in Florence and Siena after the Black Death; The Arts, Religion, and Society in the Mid-Fourteenth Century, Princeton UP, (1951) 1978 – ND611.M454

Hayden Maginnis, “The Mid-Century and the Mannered Style,” in Painting in the Age of Giotto, Penn State UP, 1997. ND613.M25

Recommended:

Ernst Gombrich, (Review of Meiss), Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 11 (1953), 414-16 JStor

Henk van Os, “The Black Death and Sienese Painting: A Problem of Interpretation,” Art History, 4 (1981), 237-49. JStor

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SECTION 4)

Early Quattrocento Sculpture in Florence; A Spirit of Rivalry

Politics, society and public art projects in the Florentine “Republic”; the competition panels for the Baptistery Doors; Andrea Pisano’s Trecento reliefs (now South Door) and Lorenzo Ghiberti’s reliefs for the North Doors of the Baptistery. Also: techniques in carving and bronze casting.

Orsanmichele – The Guilds and their Statues

Public sculpture in Florence and notions of civic identity.

Like the Baptistery, the structure of Orsanmichele (Orto di San Michele, or “Garden of St. Michael”), had a special function and meaning to the Renaissance Florentine. Midway on the axis between the Cathedral and the Palazzo dei Priori (Palazzo Vecchio), the 14C building was a storehouse for grain, housed a very venerated image of the Virgin, and was decorated with niches sponsored, for their statues and enframement, by the guilds of the city. In 1406, Florentine legislature demanded that, finally, each guild provide a statue of their patron saint; the “flurry of new activity” (CC, p. 86) that ensued gave birth to an historic impetus for the creation of over-life size figures in marble and bronze, that would revive the art of monumental public sculpture in Florence (and in Europe).

Reading:

Stephen Campbell and Michael Cole (henceforth: CC), Chapter 2, “The Cathedral and the City,” and Chapter 3, “Commissioning Art,” in A New History of Italian Renaissance Art

Accounts of the Competition for the Baptistery Doors by Renaissance writers (Handout)

HW, Chapter 7

Megan Holmes, Chapter on Bernardo Daddi’s Madonna and Child, in The Miraculous Image in Renaissance Florence, Yale UP, 2013. N7952.F57 H65 2013

Recommended:

R. Krautheimer, Chapters III and IV (The Competition), in Lorenzo Ghiberti, Princeton UP (1956), 1990. eBook

Mary Bergstein, Chapter 3, “The Classical Tradition: Nanni di Banco and Donatello,” and Chapter 4, “Public Sculpture and Ceremonial Space,” in The Sculpture of Nanni di Banco, Princeton UP, 2000. NB623.N3 B47

Selections on individual sculptures in:

Krautheimer (Ghiberti’s St. John the Baptist)

Janson and Poeschke (Donatello, St. Mark, St. George)

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SECTION 5)

Brunelleschi: “Early Renaissance Architecture”- synthesizing old solutions, rationally and creatively, to create a new architecture.

A new ideal of architecture, based on measure, and learning from the Classical, (and the Medieval, even the Byzantine), conceptual and highly practical: The Ospedale degli Innocenti, and Florentine charitable institutions.

The Old Sacristy in S. Lorenzo, its functions and geometry, and first Medici rumblings of art patronage.

Brunelleschi and the Cupola of Florence Cathedral:

How an apparently Gothic structure introduces a Renaissance mentality and empirical problem-solving. Practicalities and solutions for the most conspicuous art-religious monument in Early Renaissance Florence – the long-deliberated Cupola of the Cathedral. Brunelleschi’s ingenuity; the dome as religious and civic symbol.

Brunelleschi and Perspective – the lost perspective experimental paintings. A basic introduction of one-point perspective – gains and limits. Other buildings: San Lorenzo, especially, and Sto. Spirito - so similar, yet so different. The Pazzi Chapel, its relationship to the Old Sacristy, also: rethinking and reworking. Models and innovations, with consideration of function.

Reading:

CC, Chapter 3, section, “Brunelleschi and the Foundling Hospital,” p. 99, and Chapter 4, “Perspective and its Discontents,” 102-119

Alberti, Introduction to On Painting, dedication of the Italian version

(1436)

Isabelle Hymen, (Selections, by Manetti), Brunelleschi in Perspective, Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, 1974. NA1123.B8 H95

Vasari, “Life of Brunelleschi” in Lives of the Artists

HW, Chapter 6, “The Renaissance Begins: Architecture”

Recommended:

(On Brunelleschi:

Eugenio Battisti, Filippo Brunelleschi, London and NY: Phaidon, 2012. NA1123.B8 B361

Howard Saalman, Filippo Brunelleschi: The Buildings, London: Zwemmer, 1993. NA1123. B8S23)

Howard Saalman, on the Ospedale, in Filippo Brunelleschi: The Buildings, London: Zwemmer, 1993. NA1123. B8S23

Eugenio Battisti, on the Old Sacristy, in Filippo Brunelleschi, London and NY: Phaidon, 2012. NA1123.B8 B361

John Henderson, Selected Chapter, The Renaissance Hospital: Healing the Body and Healing the Soul, New Haven and London, Yale UP, 2006

Frank D. Prager and Gustina Scaglia, Chapter 1, “Beginnings of Brunelleschian Concepts,” and Chapter 3, “The New Concepts for Construction,” in Brunelleschi; Studies of His Technology and Inventions, Cambridge MA and London, MIT Press, 1970. SCAN

Mary Bergstein, “Marian Politics in Quattrocento Florence: The Renewed Dedication of S. Maria del Fiore in 1412,” Art Bulletin, 44, no. 4 (1991), 643-719

Ross King, Brunelleschi’s Dome; How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture, NY: Walker and Co., 2000. NA5621.F7 K56 2000 (= journalistically readable account of the construction of the cupola, though “extremely dependent” on Prager and Scaglia, MIT!)

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SECTION 6) New Trends in Painting / Contrasting Currents and Intersections:

Masaccio and Gentile da Fabriano / Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico

What are painters doing in the early Quattrocento: Gentile da Fabriano and the courtly style with innovations; Masaccio’s style of imposing simplicity; Concepts of “naturalism” in early 15thC Florence, and how “naturalism” as a concept needs correction: convention and construction. The Eucharist represented and the Incarnation pictured.

The Fra’s; Vasari’s literary construction, and notions of style and character – seeds of art-historical conception. BUT: a close look at two Coronations, with consideration of patronage demands, external factors – the aptness of artists, styles, for patrons, and corresponding iconography.

Fra Filippo Lippi, iconographical invention and stylistic elaboration

Fra Angelico: painting and piety in the work of a Dominican artist - Altarpieces; his work at S. Marco

The logic, art and meaning of one-point perspective

Readings:

CC, (as above, Chapter 4), and Chapter 5, “Practice and Theory”, 122-125; 128-130; Chapter 6, 146-155

Vasari, Lives of Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico

Vasari, Preface II

Steinberg, Sexuality of Christ, selections

Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, Chapter II, “The Period Eye,” pp 29-108

HW, Chapters 8 and 9

Recommended:

Keith Christianson, Gentile da Fabriano, chapter on the Adoration of the Magi

Masaccio’s Trinity, selected essays

William Hood, Fra Angelico at S. Marco

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SECTION 7) – Leon Battista Alberti. Humanism and the theory of art and architecture: Perspective and “istoria;” Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise.” Alberti’s architecture: Architectural theory and practice

Reading:

HW, Chapter 10

Alberti, On Painting, (selection)

Reading: John Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture, pp 7-20

(FIX: lost part of document here – Alberti is Important! Forthcoming.)

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SECTION 8) The Magic of Images

While modern art historians have studied religious painting and sculpture as “art,” inquiring about issues concerning style, patronage, iconography, etc. – this is not the way the contemporary “users” of images of Madonnas and saints might have considered them. We will examine devotional practices, and the power that certain paintings were believed to possess, an approach initiated by Trexler, and more recently developed by Holmes.

Reading:

Richard Trexler, “Florentine Religious Experience: The Sacred Image,” Studies in the Renaissance, 19 (1972), 7-41

Megan Holmes, The Miraculous Image in Renaissance Florence, Yale UP, 2013. N7952.F57 H65 2013. (selections)

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SECTION 9) – Paolo Uccello, Domenico Veneziano, Andrea del Castagno: “La dolce prospettiva”- spatial formula, ambiguities, and manipulations; devotion and diversion. Medici Patronage examined. Civic responsibility or propaganda in building projects, sculpture and painting commissions. The later work of Donatello in Florence and Padua. Tomb sculpture and funerary chapels in mid-15thC Florence.

Reading:

CC,

HW, Chapter 11, pp 265-281; HW, Chapter 12, pp 299-311; CC also, texts

Dale Kent, Cosimo de’Medici and the Florentine Renaissance, Chapter XI, pp 217-238; Chapter XII, pp 239-291

… and more TBA, (file transfer issues, will correct)

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SECTION 10) – Oral Research Presentations

LAST DAY) REVIEW

FINAL EXAMINATION: TBA; during the designated Final Examination Period.

DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL AFTER THE LAST DAY OF THE FINAL EXAM PERIOD!!!!!