Description of the Course:

            It would not be hyperbolic to state that the period in Italy from ca. 1470-1520 was a moment in which art and architecture represented one of the most crucial areas of human endeavor.  Art in the High Renaissance was regarded, by those who made and used it, not as a gratuitous luxury or ornament to society, but as an integral part of religious worship, intellectual inquiry, and the fabric of the state. The importance given to the visual arts by popes and rulers, writers and thinkers, churchmen and businessmen, and of course, by artists themselves was immense, and the aesthetic and intellectual level achieved in painting, sculpture and architecture was nothing less than stupendous. This course will investigate this phenomenon, in an effort not only to appraise and to understand individual artworks, but also to examine who and how art in this period was considered of vital interest to society, religion, investigative thought and political persuasion. 

            We will examine the works of some of the most accomplished figures of Western culture –Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Bramante, to name only a few – and the intellectual movements and social contexts in which these artists lives. The foundations of the High Renaissance begin largely, though not exclusively, in Florence; these explorations gather momentum as Central Italian artists, in Rome, lend their talents to the spiritual and imperial ambitions of the papal court. In these years artists and their patrons, along with influential men of letters, address the culture of the ancient past with renewed rigor and sophistication. Religious belief and doctrine, as well as the authority of the popes, are being defined and also challenged. In narrative cycles, altarpieces, mythologies and allegories, portraiture, ecclesiastical and civic building, some of the best minds of the period are enlisted to express contemporary ideas and debates. 

            Wölfflin’s denomination of this cultural production as “Classic Art” is descriptive of a style that established the perfect balance between natural observation and ideal form. Also “classic” is the attention given by High Renaissance artists and patrons to the precedent of ancient Rome: in literary movements and antiquarianism, in formal style and motifs, in the recreation of the plan of ancient Rome. Already in the Early Renaissance the humanist enterprise of reassessing and appropriating, for contemporary purposes, ancient achievement was underway. In High Renaissance Rome, especially during the ambitious papacy of Julius II della Rovere, study of the ancient splendor of Rome was part of a program of “renovation,” as both model and legitimization of papal power.

            Some of the topics to be addressed will include: Medici culture in Florence and Neoplatonism; the rise of Savonarola and his legacy in religious art; continuity in della Rovere patronage between Sixtus IV and Julius II; private patronage in palace and chapel; public sculpture as commemoration and civic pride; the study of nature and art as science; portraiture as social image and speaking likeness; spatial illusion and new relationships beween art and the viewer; architectural theory and practice; the developing role of the artist in society; and the formation of the papal image through art and architecture. 

            This course will include several Friday morning classes, to allow on-site visits to monuments, churches and museums here in Rome. The Journal assignment will incourage you to investigate monuments on your own (or with classmates). In addition, there will be a weekend trip to Florence to examine painting, sculpture and architecture of the High Renaissance in person, often within the original context. (Study Visit - TBA)

Aims of the Course:

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

-        A familiarity with period and individual styles of High 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 High 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.

SECTIONS OF STUDY: exact dates, schedule forthcoming - 

Introduction

            An introduction to the course and assignments. A visit to Bramante’s ” Tempietto” for an introduction to what we mean by “High Renaissance;”  then a look inside the church of  S. Pietro in Montorio.

            Review of the syllabus, discussion of what lies ahead in the course.

 The Later 15C in Florence

            The principles of Renaissance art as developed in the second half of the Quattrocento by such painters and sculptors as Verrocchio, the Pollaiuolo, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio. These include: one-point perspective, contrapposto and motion, drawing as study and preparation, the observation of nature, attitudes toward the antique in form and motif, humanism in Florence,  some basic Christian themes, and some innovative secular ones.

            A close look at a few selected artworks will introduce contextual issues: patronage, function, ideological and religious messages, and a consideration of Renaissance expectations (as opposed to our own).

Required Reading:

-       Hartt and Wilkins (henceforth “HW”), Introduction: Italy and Italian Art; Chapters 13 and Chapter 14, pp. 375-389

-       Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, Oxford University Press, (1972) 1988: Chapter 1  ND615.B32

Leonardo

            A painter, scientist, engineer, and courtier – among other accomplishments – Leonardo da Vinci was regarded as a genius even in his own lifetime: you will read Vasari’s mid-16C description of his life, achievements and nearly demonic character. An investigation of his paintings, drawings, sculptural and architectural designs, projects and inventions in the contemporary context of Florence and Milan will illuminate his essential contribution to the High Renaissance.

Required Reading:

-       HW, Chapter 16

-       Giorgio Vasari, “Life of Leonardo,” in his Lives of the Artists (1568) (various editions in the library)

Recommended Reading:

-       Leo Steinberg, Leonardo’ Incessant Last Supper, N.Y., 2001, 19-53  ND623.L5A683

-       Martin Kemp, The Marvelous Works of Nature and Man, Oxford, 2006, Chapter I, “Leonardo da Firenze”  N6923.L33 K45

Rome in the Later Quattrocento

Visit: S. Maria sopra Minerva (Friday Morning)

            We will concentrate on Filippino Lippi’s frescoes in the Carafa Chapel, and Michelangelo’s Risen Christ, in this important Dominican church near the Pantheon. 

Required Reading:

-       Gail Geiger, Filippino Lippi’s Carafa Chapel, Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1986, ESP. Introduction, pp. 10-29 and Chapter 3 “The Triumph,” pp. 89-113   ND2757.R6G34

-       William Wallace,”Michelangelo’s Risen Christ,” The Sixteenth Century Journal, 28, no. 4 (1997), 1251-80 (JStor)

 Rome in the Later Quattrocento, con: 

            Patterns of papal patronage established by the first della Rovere pope, Sixtus IV (1471-84) will be examined. Some works will include: the wall decorations of the Sistine Chapel, Melozzo’s “frontispiece” for the Vatican Library, Pinturicchio’s Roman career, the study and collection of antiquities, papal tombs, the development of civic institutions and the urban design of the city.

Required Reading:

-       HW, Chapter 14, pp. 369-78

-       Loren Partridge, The Art of the Renaissance in Rome, 1400-1600, Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 1996 – Introduction; Chapter 1, pp. 18-26; Chapter 2, pp. 42-49; Chapter 3, pp.  60-68; Chapter 5, pp. 115-20   N6920.P277

-       John Paoletti and Gary Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy, Lawrence King, 2001, pp. 320-30  N6915.P24

Recommended Reading:

-       Peter Partner, Renaissance Rome 1500-59, Berkeley and Los Angeles, (1976), 1979, Introduction, pp. 3-23   DG812.P37

-       HW, Chapter 17, 493-503

-       Wolfgang Lotz, Architecture in Italy 1500-1600 (1975), New Haven, 1995 (revised ed.), 10-25 NA1115.L666

Recommended Reading: 

-       Phyllis Bober and Ruth Rubinstein, Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture: A Handbook of Sources, H.Miller/Oxford University Press (1986) 1991  (explore this significant reference volume)  REF NB85.B97

FRIDAY Morning – On-site visit: Villa Farnesina

Visit: Villa Farnesina

            Next door to John Cabot is one of the wonders of Renaissance Rome: the pleasure villa built for the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, the Villa Farnesina. By exploring the villa, and the architecture by Baldassare Peruzzi , and paintings by 

Raphael, Peruzzi, Sebastiano del Piombo and il Sodoma, we will try to imagineRoman  life here in the 1510’s, including the lavish entertainments which were attended by friends, Cardinals and popes.  

Required Reading:

-       David Coffin, The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, Princeton, 1979, pp. 86-110 (on the Villa Farnesina)  NA7755.C6

 The Early Careers of Michelangelo and Raphael

            Michelangelo’s formative period in the Medici household, his first works in Rome (the Pietà, the Bacchus), and his Florentine career to 1506 (the tondi, David, and Battle of Anghiari).

            Raphael’s beginnings in Urbino and Perugia, and paintings in Florence, especially Madonnas, to 1508. Particular attention will be given to exploring, in the art of each artist, their debt to Leonardo, antiquity, and natural observation, and to interpretation of selected works.

Required Reading:

-       HW, Chapter 16, pp. 469-83

-       Leo Steinberg, “Metaphors of Love and Birth in Michelangelo’s Pietàs,” in Studies in Erotic Art, ed. T. Bowie, N.Y., 1970, pp. 231-39.  N8217.E6S8

Recommended Reading:

-       Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo, Penguin, 1985 (a general handbook)  ND623.B9H25

-       Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, Raphael, New Haven and London, 1993, pp. 1-47 (concise text, with many illustrations)  N6923.R333J6

-       Charles Seymour, A Search for Identity; Michelangelo’s David, NY., (1967) 1974, pp. 1-66 and especially pp. 141-157   NB623.B9S49

Michelangelo makes his mark in Rome:

The Pietà and The Sistine Ceiling

            Michelangelo’s Pietà and an examination of the frescoes for the vault of the Sistine Chapel.

Required Reading:

-       HW, Chapter 17, pp, 503-21

-       Loren Partridge, The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, N.Y., 1996 (a small book of good reproductions and intelligent, succinct commentary)  ND2757.V35P37

Recommended Reading:

Charles de Tolnay, Michelangelo, vol. II: The Sistine Ceiling, Princeton, (1945) 1969 (take a look at  Tolnay’s classic work – one of five volumes – in order to understand his approach.)  N6923.B9D

 Visit: S. Pietro in Vincoli – Friday Morning

            Michelangelo’s ill-fated tomb for Pope Julius II ended up not in St. Peter’s, as he had planned, but in his titular church (the basilica associated with his Cardinal’s title). We will examine the Moses in the context of the history of the tomb, Julius’ intentions, and the final monument. 

STUDY VISIT TO FLORENCE: TBA

ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS (to be scheduled)

            Sites will include: the Church of S. Maria Novella; S. Lorenzo, the Medici Chapel and Laurentian Library; the museums of the Uffizi, Bargello, and Academia; and more! Students arrange transportation and accommodations. JCU pays for entrance tickets to museums and churches. Student presentations will be part of the lessons on-site. 

The Papacy Triumphant: Julius II (1503-13) and the High Renaissance in Rome

Emphasis will be given to the development of the the Vatican Palace and St. Peter’s under Julius and his successors. We will consider: the significance and history of the site, the development of Bramante’s plan and later construction of the Vatican basilica under Michelangelo, the Cortile Belvedere and statue court, papal collecting, and other related topics.

Required Reading:

-       Raphael’s School of Athens, ed. Marcia Hall, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 131-170  ND623.R2A76

-       Timothy Verdon, “Pagans in the Church,” pp. 114-30

Recommended Readings:

-       John Shearman, “Only Connect…”, Princeton University Press, 1992, Chapter V “History, and Energy,” pp. 192-226   N6915.S54

 Raphael and the Stanze, and other Roman works 

            In the decoration for the private library of Julius II – the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace – Raphael creates a serene classicism which he gradually elaborates and transforms in the subsequent frescoes for the other rooms in the papal apartments: the Stanza d’Eliodoro, Stanza del Incendio, and the Sala di Costantino (completed by his assistant Giulio Romano). The iconographical programs for these paintings reflect, too, the use of art for the promotion of papal identity and authority. Also to be discussed will be selected altarpieces (the Sistine Madonnaand the Tranfiguration), portraiture, the cartoons for the Sistine Chapel tapestries, his commissions for Agostino Chigi, as well as his architectural projects and archaeological interests in the reconstruction of ancient Rome.

Required Reading:

-       HW, Chapter 17, 529-47

Pick one:

Ingrid Rowlands, “The Intellectual Background of the School of Athens”

Final Examination –

Anticipated travel plans will not be considered as valid excuses for examination absence, and “pre-make-ups” are out of the question as an option for such reasons. 

MORE DETAILS; DATES - forthcoming