The High Renaissance in Rome and Florence (U02951)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : ACE-3-HRenRome

The visual arts produced in the period from 1494 to 1527 have become a benchmark for creativity in European culture. The cities of Florence and Rome played host to artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael, and it was in these urban contexts that they executed their most famous paintings and sculptures. Whilst many survey books consider this era in terms of artistic genius, this course will go beyond looking at individual creativity to consider broader cultural reasons for this extraordinary artistic flourishing. This period was a time of war, regime change and many social, political and religious crises, all of which affected the working conditions of artists and the type of work they produced.
We will analyse the work of these artists and others working in this period (including Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Fra Bartolommeo, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Giulio Romano), in terms of broad cultural changes. We will look at issues such as the role of patrons in determining the final appearance of an artwork and the growth of the concept of the 'artist'; the relationship between the visual arts and religious reform; how the nude as an artistic subject relates to renaissance ideas about gender and sexuality; and the way the visual arts were used as political propaganda.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : A pass in either History of Art 2 or Architectural History 2a and 2b

Subject Areas

Home subject area

History of Art, (School of Arts, Culture and Environment, Schedule A)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	10:00	10:50	Central

? Additional Class Information : Seminars will take place on Fridays, 9-10.50am and 11.10-1pm. Students will attend one of these.

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, the student will have developed:
- through attending lectures and seminars, familiarity with the visual arts of High Renaissance Italy. This was a crucial period in the development of art history and theory, which also influenced art practice for the next three centuries.
- critical engagement with the historiography of this period, considering the merits and demerits of formalist analysis in comparison with other methodological approaches including gender/sexuality, identity, social history of art and material culture.
- skills in textual analysis and historical thinking through the use of contemporary texts, which will form a crucial element in class teaching
- skills in visual analysis through close attention to individual objects including applied arts as well as painting and sculpture.