An extension of the study of Italian art and architecture in the Renaissance through the second half of the 15th century into the first three decades of the 16th. The works of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pollaiuolo, and others will be studied, along with works by those whose innovations initiated the High Renaissance style: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bramante, and Raphael. Site visits are an essential part of the course and may require a fee.

Satisfies "the Early Modern World" core course requirement for Art History majors

            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 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 lived. 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 Saturday morning classes, to allow on-site visits to monuments, churches and museums here in Rome. The Journal assignment will encourage 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. (Weekend in Florence: from Friday March 22, 10:30 to Sunday March 24, 12:00; students will make their own arrangements for travel and accommodations, tickets paid by JCU.

An extensive Bibliography will be communicated the first week of class. For now:

BASIC   TEXTBOOKS

Stephen Campbell and Michael Cole, Italian Renaissance Art, NY: Thames and Hudson, (2012), 2^nd ed. 2017, N6915.C35

Frederick Hartt and David Wilkins, History of Renaissance Art. Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Pearson Prentiss Hall, 8th ed.  TXT N6915.H37 2011

John Paoletti and Gary Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy, Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall, 3^rd ed. 2006.    N6915.P26 2005

Loren Partridge, Art of Renaissance Florence 1400-1600, Berkeley, U of Ca Press, 2009. N6921.F7 P37

Loren Partridge, The Art of the Renaissance in Rome, 1400-1600, Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 1996 (and later ed.).   N6920.P277

 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 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.

An extension of the study of Italian art and architecture in the Renaissance through the second half of the 15th century into the first three decades of the 16th. The works of Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pollaiuolo, and others will be studied, along with works by those whose innovations initiated the High Renaissance style: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bramante, and Raphael. Site visits are an essential part of the course and may require a fee.

Satisfies "the Early Modern World" core course requirement for Art History majors

Schedule / AH 296 / Spring 2024

Tuesday and Thursday 4:30 – 5:45

STUDY VISIT TO FLORENCE:

Friday March 22, 10:00 AM - Sunday, March 24, 12:00

ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS:

Some of you will be delivering your Oral Research Presentations in Florence.

Others, in class, the following week, March 26 and 28

Also Note: FRIDAY/ SATURDAY ON-SITE STUDY VISITS IN ROME: Exact Dates arriving soon)

-       10:30-12:00 – Villa Farnesina

-       10:30-12:00 – S. Maria del Popolo

WEEK I)

            Basics about the course – review of the syllabus, assignments, readings, and discussion of what lies ahead in the course.

            Discussion of the Journal, an assignment emphasizing on-site analysis and writing. We will look at some examples of late-15C and High Renaissance art and architecture to illustrate methods of looking and thinking to get you started on the Journal project, an important assignment to involve you in on-site study.

Required Reading:

Both of these crucial for Renaissance materials, terms, etc. -

-       Hartt and Wilkins (henceforth “HW”), Introduction: “Italy and Italian Art” – Geography, and artistic techniques especially. Nice maps and discussion of major centers of the Italian Peninsula. NB: Not yet a unified “Italy”.

-       Campbell and Cole (henceforth “CC”), pp. 656-674, on materials, with Glossary. NB: Historical timetables, and Bibliography follow, use for reference.

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WEEK II)

The Later 15C in Florence

            Through a few selected artworks, we will introduce the principles of Renaissance art as developed in the later Quattrocento by such painters and sculptors as Verrocchio, the Pollaiuolo, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and Filippino Lippi. These include: one-point perspective, contrapposto and the representation of motion, narrative vs. devotional images, drawing as study and preparation, the observation of nature, attitudes toward the antique in form and motif, some basic Christian themes, and some innovative secular ones. The age of Lorenzo “il Magnifico” and Renaissance Humanism in Florence.

            How to look historically: the contextual issues of patronage, function, ideological and religious messages, within a consideration of Renaissance expectations - as opposed to our own.

            How to look analytically and formally; the work itself as primary evidence.

Required Reading:

-       Campbell and Cole (henceforth “CC”), Chapter 9, 1470-80 “What is Naturalism,” 248-50; 253-55; “Icon and Narrative,” 256; 258-69 and Chapter 10, 1480-90, “Migration and Mobility,” 272-78; 280-97; Chapter 11, 1490-1500, “The Allure of the Secular,” 305-6 (Tornabuoni Chapel)

-       Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, Oxford University Press, (1972) 1988: Chapter 1, 1-27   ND615.B32

Recommended Reading:

-       Charles Dempsey, The Portrayal of Love: Botticelli’s “Primavera” and Humanist Culture at the Time of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Princeton UP, 1992: “Introduction,” 3-19  NX552.A1D46

-       Rab Hatfield, Botticelli’s Uffizi ‘Adoration’: A Study in Pictorial Content (Princeton Essays on the Arts) Princeton UP, 1976: Chapter II, “Religious Symbolism,” 33-67 (Moodle)

-       Baxandall, Painting and Experience, Chapter 2, 29 -108

-       HW, Chapters 13 and Chapter 14, 375-38

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WEEK III)

Leonardo in Florence and Milan

            A painter, sculptor, architect, theatrical designer, 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 nearly demonic achievements and character. By engaging in an investigation of his paintings, drawings, sculptural and architectural designs, projects and thought in Florence and Milan, we will also witness how many of the principles of his creations and ideas stimulated those of the High Renaissance.

            N.B: Art Historians refer to this artist as “Leonardo,” not “Da Vinci.”

FIRST JOURNAL ENTRY DUE: TBA (in class – notebook with first handwritten entry. If your handwriting is messy, insert typed version.)

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 10, 282-97; 285-87; Chapter 11, 300-1; 310-6; 310-18; 326-39; Chapter 12, 345-34

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

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

Recommended Reading:

-       Leo Steinberg, Leonardo’ Incessant Last Supper, N.Y., 2001, Chapters I and 2, 19-53    ND623.L5A683

            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 imagine Roman life here in the 1510’s, including the lavish entertainments which were attended by friends, Cardinals and popes. 

Required Reading:

-       Ingrid Rowlands, “Render Unto Caesar the Things Which are Caesar’s: Humanism and the Arts in the Patronage of Agostino Chigi,” Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Winter, 1986), pp. 673- 693 (NB: First Section on Villa Farnesina; Optional but recommended – rest of article, on Raphael’s two chapels for Agostino Chigi) –Jstor

Recommended Reading:

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

-       HW, Chapter 17, 529-47

-       CC, Chapter 13, 388-390

WEEK IV)

Rome in the Later Quattrocento

            Patterns of papal patronage established by the first della Rovere pope, Sixtus IV (1471-84) will be examined. For lack of a strong local school, Roman Quattrocento patrons turned to Central Italian artists, some of whom we have already met, to answer their needs. Some works will include: the wall decorations of the Sistine Chapel, Melozzo’s “frontispiece” for the Vatican Library, Pinturicchio’s Roman career, Pollaiuolo’s tombs, the study and collection of antiquities, the development of civic institutions and the urban design of the city.

DECLARATION OF ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATION -DUE TBA (in class.)

One thoughtful paragraph stating your research project for the course, based on one work of art or architecture, and some preliminary issues, questions you hope to address. Include a starting Bibliography of at least 5-6 scholarly articles, essays, catalogues, books or book chapters, and indicate two of the major sources for your discussion, so far. Do include a second choice of topic, in case of multiple student eagerness for the same monument – the most serious proposal will win the topic, and you may submit your second choice, as above, in the following week. I do not want to see uncertainty or casual sheets of “maybe” topics. Be decided, and convincing. The submission of a topic is already part of your grade for the assignment and the course, and should be well-informed in content, prospectus of investigation and research (bibliography), and neatly done and considered in form. See Guideline for Suggested Topics and Topic Submission

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 10, 285-97

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

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

Recommended Reading:

-       Leopold Ettlinger, “Pollaiuolo’s Tomb for Pope Sixtus IV,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 16 (1954), 239-74. JStor

-       Rona Goffen, “Friar Sixtus IV and the Sistine Chapel, Renaissance Quarterly, 39 (1986), 218-162: esp. Franciscan background 227-239; analysis of Moses and Christ typological pairs, 239-62; ESP. 241-47 (on Pair III, by Botticelli) JStor

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

-       HW, Chapter 14, 369-78

WEEK V)

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, especially the Doni Tondo; David, and Battle of Cascina – this last with Leonardo’s parallel commission for the Battle of Anghiari).

            Raphael’s beginnings in Urbino and Perugia, and paintings in Florence, especially Madonnas, to his move to Rome, 1508.

Particular attention will be given to exploring each artist’s early cultural experiences, and their debt to Leonardo, antiquity, and natural observation, interpretation vs. convention. How the studio process and methods of work and thought are changing, and the goals of artists and patrons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PRESENTATION DUE, INDICATING TWO SCHOLARLY WORKS FOR YOUR CRITICAL REVIEWS, DUE TBA (in class).

This should be your practically complete Bibliography, an essential element in the Oral Research Presentation project. Of course, some further readings might be discovered, but I expect this to be the fruit of much investigation, and basically the Bibliography you will turn in with your Presentation Outline.

            IMPORTANT: DECLARE the most essential scholarly works, one of which can be your topic for the CRITICAL REVIEW assignment. Do consult with the Reference Librarians – make an appointment – to assist you in your bibliographical development. I check in with them, they with me.

             I also very much encourage you to visit me to discuss your research during my office hours or by appointment OR: Just stop by! If I am busy, I will tell you when you can return.

Guidelines will be provided.

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 11, 336-39; Chapter 12, 342-45 (rather nicely dialectic!); 345-58

-       Leo Steinberg, “Metaphors of Love and Birth in Michelangelo’s Pietàs,” in Studies in Erotic Art, ed. T. Bowie, NY, 1970, 231-39 (first section on the Roman Pietà)  N8217.E6S8

-       Michael Cole, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Art of the Figure, Yale UP, 2014, Preface; Chapter 1, “The Force of Art,” 1-29 ND1293.I8 C65

Recommended Reading:

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

-       W. Wallace, “Michelangelo’s Rome Pietà: Altarpiece or Grave Memorial?,” in Verrocchio and Late Quattrocento Italian Sculpture, ed. Steven Bule and Alan Phipps Darr, Florence: Casa Editrice le Lettere, 1992, 243-55

-       Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo, Penguin, 1985 (a general handbook – first chapters on the early period)    ND623.B9H25

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

-       HW, Chapter 16, 469-83

Exact Date - TBA – SATURDAY 10:30- 12:00

Visit to S. Maria del Popolo

            The church itself was built for Pope Sixtus IV, and several of the chapels in the right aisle host funereal monuments and frescoes for members of his family. We will also look at the Chigi Chapel, constructed and decorated by Raphael, for Agostino Chigi - with the later altarpiece by Sebastiano del Piombo, completed with two sculptures by Bernini. Bramante’s choir is hard to see, but important as well. (You will have a moment to look at the Cerasi Chapel, that hosts paintings by Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio.)

Recommended Readings:

-       Lisa Passaglia Bouman, “Domenico, Girolamo and Julius II della Rovere at S. Maria del Popolo,” in Patronage and Dynasty, ed. Verstegen, 2007. (On Order, ILL: should be ready. Moodled)

-       Loren Partidge and Rudolph Starn, A Renaissance Likeness. Art and Culture in Raphael’s Julius II, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1980,

WEEK VI)

REVIEW FOR THE MIDTERM

            Part of the class will be dedicated to a Review for the upcoming Examination. Some continuation of the early careers of Michelangelo and Raphael, and connections with Late 15C art in Florence, and Leonardo, done as part of the Review.

            We will do together some sample comparisons and unknowns of the same type you will encounter on Wednesday in the examinations, along with discussion of the readings up until now.

MIDTERM EXAMINATION (TBA) – in class

VISIT SATURDAY AM, TBA – The Church of  S. Maria sopra Minerva

            We will look at Filippino Lippi’s fresco cycle for the Cardinal Carafa, to enrich study of the intersection between Florentine and Roman art, as well as an understanding of how the patronage of a particular religious order (here, distinctively Dominican) determines iconographical choices and representational decisions.

            And of course: An examination of Michelangelo’s Risen Christ, one of his more problematic and provocative works.

Required Readings:

-       Gail Geiger, Filippino Lippi’s Carafa Chapel: Renaissance Art in Rome (Sixteenth-Century Essays and Studies 5), Ann Arbor, 1986,  Introduction, pp. 10-29 and Chapter 3 “The Triumph,” 89-113   ND2757.R6G34

-       William Wallace, “Michelangelo’s Risen Christ,” Sixteenth-Century Journal 28 (1997), 1251-80 JStor

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WEEK VII)

Papal Petrine Ambitions - The conception and “Tragedy” of Michelangelo’s tomb for Pope Julius II; the reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Peter’s

NB: The first part of the lesson on Monday will be a recapitulation of the Midterm –since for many of you, your first AH examination.

The long and torturous construction of Michelangelo’s tomb for Pope Julius II and the project to entirely rebuild the Early Christian church that was constructed by the 4C and “first Christian Emperor” Constantine to honor the tomb site of St. Peter were not coincidentally both conceived by Pope Julius.

Julius, the second Della Rovere pope, imagined for himself a free-standing tomb, on the model of Pollaiuolo’s bronze floor tomb for his uncle, yet of marble and grander – it became a forever “incomplete” through a good part of Michelangelo’s life, administered even after the pope’s death in 1513 by his heirs. With the passing years and papal/political vicissitudes, the entirely innovative and colossal first project gradually was whittled down until its final placement in S. Pietro in Vincoli, rather than St. Peter’s, where the single sculpture of the Moses commands both spiritually and aesthetically a much-reduced funerary monument.

We will also consider the significance and history of the site of St. Peter’s, and the development of Bramante’s plan for the church and adjacent palace; for this is necessary also a discussion of the classical orders and forms, and their Renaissance employment and invention. Most relevant is Bramante’s design for St. Peter’s, and then its subsequent development and especially evolution under Michelangelo’s direction in the mid-16C.

Required Readings:

-       Ascanio Condivi, Life of Michelangelo, tran. H. Wohl and A.S. Wohl, Penn State University Press, sections on the Tomb of Julius II: 28-35; 59-64; 71-83; Appendix 2, 113-117. N6923.B9 C613

-       Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Arts, “Life of Michelangelo” – various editions, also on-line; I use A.B. Hind, ed. 1980, vol. IV, 119-121; 131-133; 139-141

-       James Ackerman, The Architecture of Michelangelo, Chapter 8, “The Basilica of St. Peter’s,” 198-225

-       CC, Chapter 13, 409-412

Recommended Readings:

-       Erwin Panofsky, “The First Two Projects for Michelangelo’s Tomb of Julius II,” Art Bulletin 19, n.4 (1937): 561-79. JStor (one of the earliest proposals, and from whence much discussion originates)

-       C. L. Frommel, ed., Michelangelo’s Tomb for Julius II: Genesis and Genius, Los Angeles: J.P. Getty (2016) NB623.B9 F7613 2016 (Spend some time perusing this authoritative volume.)

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

-       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

-       HW, Chapter 17, 493-503

CRITICAL REVIEW OF A SCHOLARLY ARTICLE OR BOOK CHAPTER – DUE: TBA

A one-page summary (no longer – and double spaced) of a  scholarly essay from the course Bibliography. You may choose a reading that is essential for your understanding of your Oral Presentation Research Topic. Guidelines will be given in advance.

WEEK VIII)

Rather than a regular lesson, I will hold office hours during class period, in the Art History Office, to speak with students about the Oral Research Presentation. This will replace the usual Thursday office hours, since I will be already in Florence that afternoon. Students should be nearly finished the assignment, with full research bibliography, an outline, and any handouts that might be useful.

FLORENCE STUDY VISIT – Friday March 22, 10:00 – Sunday March 24, 12:00

Some of you will be doing your

ON-SITE ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS (to be scheduled)

            Sites will include: the Church of S. Maria Novella and the two chapels with frescoes by Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi; S. Lorenzo, Michelangelo’s Medici Chapel and Laurentian Library at S. Lorenzo; Sta. Trinita and the Sassetti Chapel; the museums of the Uffizi, Bargello, and Academia; and more!

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Week IX)

IN-CLASS ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS (to be scheduled)

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Week X)

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

Continuing with historical background for the second della Rovere pope and his expansion of the cultural and urban program of his uncle, Sixtus IV, we will further study his efforts to recreate Rome as a Christian Imperial city.

A look at the boldly ambitious Belvedere courtyard for the Vatican Palace, and Julius’s encouragement of the developing papal collection of antiquities.

Required Reading: (more, TBA)

-       John Summerson, Chapters I,II and III, 7-26, The Classical Language of Architecture, (1963) London : Thames and Hudson, (1980) NA31.S948

Revised and enlarged edition, 1980  (The best introduction of how the classical orders of antiquity were claimed, canonized, and modified in Early Modern Architecture – for us, first chapters on the Renaissance. This was a BBC radio program of 1963, that had British listeners hovering around the radio, expectantly, instead of around the hearth or the telly. Imagine!)

Recommended Reading: TBA

(I need to update and redefine this section – the art-historical literature is vast! For now, relevant sections in CC, HW, and Hibbard, the latter old but still a good basic handbook. Forthcoming soon.)

On-site visit, 10:30-12:00

Bramante’s “Tempietto,”and its Petrine and papal significance as well as discussion of High Renaissance architectural principles. We will also take a look inside the adjacent church of S. Pietro in Montorio to examine the decoration of Sebastiano del Piombo’s Borgherini Chapel, especially, and his relationship with Michelangelo.

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 12, 359-62; 370-72

-       Arnoldo Bruschi, Bramante, London: Thames and Hudson, 1977 (shorter, revised English ed. of Bramante architetto, Bari: Laterza, 1969), section on the Tempietto and St. Peter’s (Moodle)

-        

Recommended Reading:

-       Wolfgang Lotz, Architecture in Italy 1500-1600 (Pelican History of Art, 1974) revised edition, Deborah Howard, London and New Haven, Yale UP, 1995, Chapter 1, 11-34    NA1115.L666

-       HW, Chapter 17, 489-96

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WEEK XI)

Michelangelo and Raphael Make their Mark in Rome: Frescoes for Pope Julius II

You will be expected to have already visited the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s Stanze on your own!

Raphael and the Stanza della Segnatura

            In the decoration for the private library of Julius II – the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace (1509-11) – Raphael developed a definitive style which integrated natural observation, classical ideality, and humanist learning. The style and iconographical program for the frescoes reflect, too, the use of art for the promotion of papal identity and authority.

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 12, 372-77

Pick one:

-       Ingrid Rowlands, “The Intellectual Background of the School of Athens,” in Raphael’s School of Athens, ed. Marcia Hall, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 131-170   ND623.R2A76

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

Recommended Reading:

-       Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, Chapter III, “The Private Library of Julius II,” Raphael, New Haven: Yale UP, 1983, 49-80  N6923.R333 J6  RES

-       HW, Chapter 17, pp. 515-20

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling

                        The Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-12) is one of the marvels of Rome, and proved influential even before its final unveiling. We will investigate its conception and execution, the novelty of the decorative structure, its meaning (in a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, pre-Last Judgment), and how it emerged as a visual monument to the Julian papacy.

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 12, 362-70

-       Loren Partridge, The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, N.Y., 1996 (a small book of good reproductions and intelligent, succinct commentary) – pick a few sections to study   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

-       HW, Chapter 17, pp., 503-21

COMPLETED JOURNALS DUE (FIRST ENTRY INCLUDED, TWO ADDITIONAL ENTRIES) exact date TBA

WEEK XII)

The High Renaissance in Florence

            A brief review of some of the early-Cinquecento artists we have met in Florence, such as Andrea del Sarto.  Discussion of the Medici, after their 1512 reinstallation following the Florentine Republic, and under the Medici Papacy of Leo X and Clement VII – via Michelangelo’s Medici Chapel, (recap of discussion on-site in Florence), and other mature works in Florence.

Required Reading:

-       CC, Chapter 13, 412-18; Chapter 15, 463-66

-       Creighton Gilbert, “Texts and Contexts of the Medici Chapel,” Art Quarterly 34 (1971), 391-409 (Moodle)

Recommended Reading

-       Vasari, Lives of the Artists, Life of Andrea del Sarto (1568), (various editions and on-line)

-       David Franklin, Painting in Renaissance Florence, 1500-1550, New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2001.  ND 621.F725

-       Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo, NY: Harper and Row, 1974, Chapter III, “Medicean Florence,” 177-238 N6923.B9 H25

-       James Ackerman, The Architecture of Michelangelo, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, (1961), 1970, Chapter 3, “The Medici Chapel,” 71-96; Chapter 4, “The Library of San Lorenzo,” 97-122 NA1123.B9A63

-       HW, Chapter 18, 543-558

Raphael and Rome: The Sacred, The Renaissance Individual, and Antiquity

To be discussed will be selected altarpieces (the Sistine Madonna and the Tranfiguration) and Raphael’s portraiture. We will also see how Raphael gradually elaborates and transforms the serene classicism of the Stanza della Segnatura 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).

 Other facets of Raphael’s production, which include: the cartoons for the Sistine Chapel tapestries, as well as his architectural and archaeological interests. 

Required Reading:

-       Relevant sections in CC, HW, and Jones and Penny

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

-       (more forthcoming)

Recommended Reading:

            More forthcoming – revisions necessary, new studies, and especially essays in recent exhibition catalogues, such as the exhibition this summer, 2022, at the National Gallery in London.

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Week XIII) April 24, Tuesday

Review for the Final Examination

A review with some sample questions with powerpoint will provide preparation for the Final Examination. As with the Midterm Review, exercizes performed in class of comparisons and unknowns.

Discussion of issues or topics you feel unclear about is encouraged: be prepared with your own contributions. I expect YOUR questions – on the understanding of High Renaissance art history, since technical exam matters will have been clarified already.

FINAL EXAMINATION– April 29 – May 3 M-F (exact exam date and time TBA)

NB: Do not make plans to leave Rome and JCU before May 4!!!

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.