The Re-birth of Rome: Patronage, Cultural Transmission, and the Visual Arts from Gregory VII to Boniface VIII 1073-1303 (P02817)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : ACE-P-P02817

The period extending from the election of the great reformer Gregory VII, in 1073, until the end of the tumultuous pontificate of Boniface VIII, in 1303, is one of the most important, influential, and fertile periods of Roman history. A resurgent papacy and its struggle with the Emperors, the ‘re-birth’ of the senate in 1143, and the rise of new religious Orders, set the political and religious stage.
The prestige and leading role of Rome were re-launched through the promotion of pilgrimage, a renewed attention for the ancient heritage of the city, and the commissions of outstanding buildings and works of art, which reflected the ideologies, aspirations, and ideals of the patrons. The repeated exiles of the papacy, the growing cosmopolitan nature of the Curia, the election of foreign popes, and the international activities of the new religious orders played an important role in the introduction of new artistic tastes, and northern, as well as eastern, influences into Rome. The process was significantly bidirectional, and Rome in its turn ‘exported’ materials, artists, and ideas.
Among other things, the recent discovery of frescoes at S. Maria in Aracoeli (2003) and SS. Quattro Coronati (2004), and the Edinburgh collection of seventeenth-century drawings reproducing roman mosaics offer fresh material for engaging seminar discussions and new research in the field. This will also foster originality, critical thinking and intellectual independence.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

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

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : To be arranged/Unknown

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

The aim of the course is to explore the multifarious nature of Roman art in these centuries, and to understand the mutual enrichment that derived from cultural exchanges between Rome and the other important centres of the time, chief among them Westminster, Paris, Canterbury, Assisi, and Constantinople.