Scenes from Italian Art 2

Italy’s great painters have long represented the same scenes, drawing on the same biblical texts, mythological repertoire, local tales and eminent biographies. Yet by considering these works alongside one another, we can identify subtle changes of style and narrative focus, and begin to understand the great achievements of those who created them. In this new course, you’ll have access to background material online, including a weekly lecture, and in our online discussion groups we’ll meet to analyse the artworks and go beyond the surface similarities of the story. There is no assumption that you’ve joined any of our previous classes.

This class will be delivered online via the online platform Zoom. Enrolling students need to ensure they have an email, a reliable internet connection, microphone/speakers and access to a tablet, smartphone or computer.

SUGGESTED READING

• Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art. Oxford UP, 1961. (Much content available online at books.google.com)
• Graves, Robert. Greek Myths. Originally published 1955. (If you don’t have this on your bookshelf, you can read it online here: https://archive.org/details/greekmyths00grav_0)
• Jacobus de Voragine. Golden Legend. I find all English translations online heavy-going – if you can find William Granger Ryan’s translation for Princeton UP, it’s more readable.
• March, Jennifer R. Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Cassell, 1998. (You can borrow it online with a free Archive account: https://archive.org/details/casselldictionar00jen)
• National Gallery of Art, London, online guide to recognising the Christian saints in art: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/learn-about-art/paintings-in-depth/painting-saints?viewPage=1
• Ross, Leslie. Medieval Art: a topical dictionary. Greenwood Press, 1996. (You can borrow it online at Archive with a free account: https://archive.org/details/medievalarttopic00ross)
• Zuffi, Stefano. Understanding Italian Renaissance Painting: A Guide to the Artists, Ideas and Key Works. Thames & Hudson, 2010.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History remains the best online resource: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
  
  

COURSE OUTLINE

Before our classes begin, you’ll receive a link to an online folder with a 1-hour lecture on an aspect of the week’s images; the images for discussion in class; and short background readings. When we meet online on Zoom, we’ll have a 1.5-hour guided discussion of the selected images. This basic session outline will be repeated for each of the course’s five weeks, as we explore the following scenes from Italian art:

• The Crucifixion
• The Feast of the God
• St Sebastian
• Judith and Holofernes
• Mary Magdalene

Artists explored in depth will include: Dottori, Giotto, Titian, Raphael, Mantegna, the Pollaiuolo brothers, Artemisia Gentileschi, Caravaggio and more.

PLANNED LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Formally analyse key Italian artworks.
2. Discuss the main approaches to developing art appreciation skills.
3. Recognise the elements of key scenes, ca 1000-1900.
4. Identify major trends in Italian art.