Rome City Series - This on-site course will study the monuments of Renaissance Rome: painting, sculpture and architecture produced by such masters as Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo, all attracted to the lucrative service of popes, cardinals and nobles of the Roman court. On-site classes will investigate examples of palace and villa architecture, chapel decoration that encompasses altarpieces and funerary sculpture, as well as urbanistic projects where the city itself was considered as a work of art. In-class lectures will introduce historical context and theory allowing the student to understand artworks studied conceptually and place commissions of painting and sculpture within a socio-historic framework.

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

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

Students will have the opportunity to encounter the art and architecture of Renaissance Rome first-hand, acquiring an in-depth knowledge of these famous works of art in their historical context and original reception sites. We will study various media, from architecture and sculpture to panel painting and frescoes. Themes covered include: the transformation of the Byzantine style into a revival of classical antiquity, the impact of papal patronage on the visual arts in Renaissance churches, collecting and the relationship between artists and their powerful patrons, etc.

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, including the use of primary sources.

On-site experience of art and architecture leading to an in-depth analysis and appreciation of the work in-situ.

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.

Schedule of Classes and Readings

Week 1 (Sept 4), Thurs:               In-class: Introduction to the Renaissance in Rome, Setting the Scene

Reading: Rowland, Introduction to the Classical Revival; Partridge, Introduction to Renaissance Rome

 (Sept 11, Thurs):                             On site: Santa Maria in Trastevere, from Byzantine Icon to Renaissance Style

Reading: Vasari, Preface 1,2,3; Hager, 36-40; Holmes, Image and Efficacy; Hansen, Spolia Churches

 (Sept 18):                                           Santa Maria Sopra Minerva: Artists, Patrons, and Piety

Reading: Partridge cont’d; Geiger on Lippi; Cole, Status of the Artist

(Sept 25):                                            Collecting the Renaissance, Part I, Palazzo Barberini Gallery Raphael: Beauty, Eroticism, and Portraiture

                                                            Reading: Raphael’s Labels, Goffen; Jones and Penny on Raphael’s portraits, part one  

(Sept 26, Friday, makeup):       In class: Renaissance in films, critique and discussion

(Oct. 2):                                               Villa Farnesina: Raphael’s Flights of Fancy  and Antiquity (if possible, since our class time slot is outside of their hours)

Reading: Varriano, Fruits and Vegetables as Metaphor; Jones and Penny on Villa Farnesina; Rowland on Chigi

                                                                Or

                                                                Santa Maria del Popolo: Raphael and his Patrons

Readings: Hager, 125-130; Lotz, 20-22, Rowland, on Chigi

(Oct 9, Thurs):                                  In-class review and discussion of themes for the midterm

(Oct 16):                                              Midterm Exam; Phase I paper proposal due

(Oct 23):                                              San Pietro in Vincoli, Michelangelo, Julius II and the Nonfinito

Reading: Hibbard, the Julius Tomb, parts 1&2,148-177.            

 (Oct 30):                                             Collecting the Renaissance, Part 2, Palazzo Doria Pamphili

  Reading: Jones and Penny on Raphael’s portraits, part two                                                     

  (Nov 6):                                             Capitoline Hill, Michelangelo’s Architecture and Antiquity 

Reading: Ackerman, 136-170

(Nov 13):                                             Santa Maria Maggiore, the Afterlife of Sacred Space, from Antiquity to the Modern Times

 Reading: Noreen, The Icon of Santa Maria Maggiore

(Nov 20, Thurs):                               In-class: Student presentations of final paper topics

(Nov 27):                                             Thanksgiving Holiday, no classes                                                       

(Dec 4, Thurs):                                 In class review and discussion of themes for the exam

(Dec 11):                                             Final Exam (date to be confirmed by registrar) and Final Paper Due

Readings will be posted and selected from the following:

Ackerman, James. Architecture of Michelangelo. Penguin

Adams, Laurie Schneider. The Methodologies of Art: An Introduction, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1996.

Alberti, Leon Battista . On Painting. Penguin Classics 1991

Barnet, Sylvan.  A Short Guide to Writing About Art, 5th edition, New York: Longman, 1997.

Broude, Norma and Mary Garrard, ed. Reclaiming Female Agency: Feminist Art History after Postmodernism, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.

Campbell, Steven J. and Michael Cole. A New History of Italian Renaissance Art, 2nd ed. 2017. Thames and Hudson 2017

Cennini, Cennino.The Craftsman's Handbook (Il Libro dell'Arte). Dover 1960

Freedberg, David. The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Geiger, Gail. Filippino Lippi's Carafa chapel. 16th century journal publishers

Hager, June. Pilgrimage: A Chronicle of Christianity Through the Churches of Rome. London: Cassell Paperbacks, 2001.

Hall, Marcia. After Raphael. Cambridge UP

Hartt, Frederick.  History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.Prentice Hall 2011

Heydenreich, L.  Architecture in Italy 1400-1500. Yale UP

Hibbard, Howard.  Michelangelo. Cambridge University Press 2012

Jones, Roger and Nicholas Penny.  Raphael. Yale University Press 1983

Lotz, W. Architecture in Italy 1500-1600. Yale UP

Partridge, Loren. The Renaissance in Rome Laurence Kantner Publishers

Partridge, Loren. The Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Braziller

Pietroangeli, Carlo. The Sistine Chapel: The Art, the History and the Restoration.Harmony Books 1986

Rowland, Ingrid D. The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in Sixteenth-Century Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Slatkin, Wendy. Women Artists in History: from Antiquity to the Present, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.

Stinger, Charles L. The Renaissance in Rome. Indiana University Press 1998

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6^th edition, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Vasari, Giorgio.  The Lives of the Artists. Penguin Books 1987