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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AH 196"
COURSE NAME: "Introduction to Italian Renaissance Art"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Summer Session II 2024
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Patricia Rocco
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: MTWTH 3:40 PM 5:30 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Mandatory trip to Florence; Activity fee: €25 or $33
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course is survey of art and architecture in Italy from the 14th to the early 16th century. It explores the contributions of Florence, Rome, Siena and Venice as artistic centers, and addresses trends of the Italian Renaissance as well the contributions by principal patrons and artists from Giotto to Michelangelo. Lectures are complemented by a mandatory one-day field trip to Florence (travel-costs for which are not included in the fee). The course will assist in cultivating basic art-historical skills and in building of a contextual visual vocabulary of the period.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

This course explores the visual culture of the Renaissance, beginning with the period Vasari calls “i primi lumi,” or the first lights in the 13th century to the 16th, from Giotto to Michelangelo, while examining the sites for which the art was produced, including both public architecture and domestic space in cities such as Florence, Siena, Bologna, and Rome.

 

The first half of the course will focus on rituals of devotion in order to re-position these works, now on museum walls, back to their original function as working images, part of a program for the display of the donor’s piety and prestige, at times incorporating cross-cultural influences from early Netherlandish art.

 

The second half will focus on themes such as naturalism and the revival of antiquity, censorship, and the reform of visual imagery, while engaging with various media from painting and sculpture to decorative arts.  The course discusses the commissioning of art in this period as part of a program of political and religious propaganda in the Renaissance.

 

 

 

 
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will learn to:

Develop critical reading, writing and research skills necessary to analyse artwork via weekly readings, class discussion, writing assignments and essay exams.

 

Evaluate an object within its appropriate social and historical context, while engaging with theories of gender, identity and patronage critical to the production of visual culture in the Renaissance and early modern period.

 

Interpret the visual culture of the period through the lens of both iconography and formal analysis, as well as gaining a broad methodological framework.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Quiz:Quiz: Slide identifications to acquaint students with standard art history exam format (20 min.)10%
Midterm Exam: Midterm exam: Identifications and comparisons (1/2 class period)25%
Final Paper and Presentation: Final Paper: Choose 2 scholarly journal articles on the same artist/topic and write a critical review, first summarizing their arguments and then comparing and contrasting the author’s approach to the material. Your article choices will be due by mid-semester and the paper will be due at the end of the course. A sample review will be posted for reference. Further details will be discussed in class.25%
Final Exam: Final Exam: Cumulative identifications and essays (including material from supplemental readings) 25%
Class Participation and Homework: Reading Comprehension Homework: Each week we will discuss the readings assigned for that day’s class. It is imperative to keep up with the readings for both class discussions and written exams. Further information regarding assignments and exams will be provided in class. 15%

-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 is expected at all lectures unless there is an emergency situation which should be communicated to the professor as soon as possible.

 
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 and Readings

 Week 1 (July 1):                             Introduction to the early Renaissance; rituals of devotion in the 13th century;

the first lights of trecento painting; Giotto, Duccio and the rise of humanism in Florence and Siena

                                                          Reading: Adams, chapter 1 and 2. Vasari, preface to part one; Kemp, “Christ the True Icon”

 (July 2):        The birth of the republic in quattrocento Florence; Brunelleschi’s dome and civic competition

Reading: Adams, chapter 3; Bruce Cole, “The Status of the Artist"

(July 3):                   Massaccio and narrative painting: a new way of seeing; Monks, painters and patrons in fifteenth-century Florence; the influence of early Netherlandish painting

                                                        Reading: Adams, chapter 4 and chapter 7, pp. 151-3; Vasari, Preface 2; Adams, chapter 5 and chapter 11, pp. 222-

 July 4, JCU holiday, no class:

 

 Week 2 (July 8):                           The dignity of man and the nobility of women

Reading: Adams, chapter 6 and chapter 11, pp. 238-246; Simons, “Women in Frames”

 (July 9):                                          Donatello, the Medici and magnificenza; Botticelli, the Medici and Neoplatonism

Reading: Adams, chapter 7, 10, and 11; Jardine, “Price of Magnificence”

 (July 10):                                          Courts, prestige, and female patronage: Urbino, Mantua, Milan 

                                                          Readings: Adams, chapter 9,12, and 13; selections from Castiglione’s Courtier

(July 11):                                              Venice: Crossroads to the East:

  Readings: Brown, “Private Worlds”                           

 

(July 12, makeup day for July 4rth holiday):                                         Florence Trip (details to follow)

 

Week 3 (July 15):                           Midterm Exam

                                                           Article selections/topics due for critical writing assignment

 

(July 16):                            Introduction to the moment of the high Renaissance: the revival of the classical world

                                                         Reading: Vasari, preface to part III

 (July 17):                               Leonardo and naturalism at the court of Milan

                                                 Reading: Adams, chapter 14; Kemp, “Mona Lisa”

  (July 18):                                        Michelangelo in Florence: republican beginnings with the Medic

  Reading: Adams, chapter 15; Brandt, “Marble in Manhattan”; Barolsky, “Genius of Michelangelo”

 

 Week 4 (July 22):                     Raphael the courtier/painter

   Reading: Adams, chapters 15 and 16; Schneider, “Raphael’s Personality”

 (July 23):                                         Michelangelo’s Last Judgment: crisis and reform

Readings: Adams, chapter 18; selection from Vasari’s Life of Michelangelo; Shrimplin, “Sun-Symbolism”

 (July 24):                                         Venice: Titian, Love and Marriage in the Renaissance

Reading: Adams, chapter 17; Goffen, “Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love"

                                                     

(July 25):                                         Bronzino and Cellini: Mannerism in Florence under Cosimo I

                                                          Readings: Adams, chapter 18;

                                                          “Bronzino’s London ‘Allegory’, Healy

 

Week 5 (July 29):                         Women artists and their patrons in the 16th century

                                                         Readings: Murphy, “Lavinia Fontana and Le Dame della Citta”

 

 (July 30)                                            Student Presentations;

 

(July 31):                                          Student Presentations;

 

(Aug. 1):                                          Film on the Medici and class discussion

 

(Aug. 2):                                          Final Exam; Paper Due