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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AH 196"
COURSE NAME: "Introduction to Italian Renaissance Art"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Summer Session II 2025
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Patricia Rocco
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: MTWTH 11:10 AM 1:00 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:

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:

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
Midterm Exam:  25%
Final Paper and Presentation:  25%
Final Exam:  25%
Class Participation and Homework:  25%

-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 and Readings

 

Week 1 (July 7-10, M,T,W,Th): Introduction to the early Renaissance; rituals of devotion in the 13th century

                                                          Reading: Adams, chapter 1; Vasari, preface to part one

 

                                                          The first lights of trecento painting; Giotto, Duccio and the rise of humanism among the city-states

Reading: Adams, chapter 2; Kemp, “Christ the True Icon”

 

                                                          The birth of the republic in quattrocento Florence; Brunelleschi’s dome and civic competition

Reading: Adams, chapter 3; Bruce Cole, “The Status of the Arts”

 

                                                          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. 222-6.

 

 

 

Week 2 (July 14-17):   The dignity of man and the nobility of women

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

 

                                                          Donatello, the Medici and magnificenza; Botticelli, the Medici and Neoplatonism

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

                            

                                                          Courts, prestige, and female patronage: Urbino, Mantua ; Venice: Crossroads to the East

                                                          Readings: Adams, chapter 9,12, and 13; selections from                                                          Castiglione’s Courtier; Brown, “Private Worlds”                           

 

                                                        

 

Week 3 (July 21-24):                     Midterm Exam

                                                         Article selections/topics due for critical writing assignment

             

                                                          Introduction to the moment of the high Renaissance: the revival of the classical world

                                                         Reading: Vasari, preface to part III

 

                                                         Leonardo and naturalism at the court of Milan

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

 

                                                          Michelangelo in Florence: republican beginnings with the Medici

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

 

                                                          Florence Trip (July 26, details to follow)

 

 

Week 4 (July 28-31):                                  Raphael the courtier/painter

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

 

                                                         Michelangelo’s Last Judgment: crisis and reform

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

 

                                                         Venice: Titian, Love and Marriage in the Renaissance

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

                                                         

                                                          Bronzino and Cellini: Mannerism in Florence under Cosimo I

                                                          Readings: Adams, chapter 18;

                                                          “Bronzino’s London ‘Allegory’, Healy

 

 

Week 5 (Aug 4-7):                  Women artists and their patrons in the 16th century

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

 

                                                         Student Presentations;

 

                                                         Student Presentations;

 

                                                         Film on the Medici and class discussion

 

(Aug 8):                                        Final Exam; Paper Due