THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : History of Art

Undergraduate Course: Antiquity Recovered: Imag(in)ing Pompeii and Herculaneum (HIAR10008)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course covers a wide historical period and focuses on a series of art historical highlights unearthed from Pompeii and Herculaneum during the last two hundred years, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Case-studies will reflect the wealth and diversity of the materials exposed by excavation, including the Alexander mosaic, the painted frescoes from the Villa of the Mysteries and the Villa of the Papyri with its collection of bronze sculptures. We will explore how the artefacts recovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum have not only revised an ancient Greek and Roman art historical canon, but have simultaneously inspired works in painting (e.g. by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema), fiction (Bulwer-Lytton's novel The Last Days of Pompeii) and film (Up Pompeii!). In considering the (precarious?) relationship between antiquity and modernity, two sessions on pornography will use the so-called erotic artefacts from Pompeii to argue how such phallic, pagan items threatened to undermine the idealised status of the classical canon. Finally, we will turn from British media to Malibu in the USA, to look at J. Paul Getty's 'reconstruction' of the Villa of the Papyri as a home for his collection of furniture, paintings and antiquities. Key themes for this course include the use and abuse of the classical tradition and the relationship between antiquity and modernity, art and text. A proposed visit to the National Library of Scotland will introduce students to some of the illustrated texts (e.g. Le Antichit` di Ercolano) from the eighteenth century that have preserved and disseminated other image(s) of Pompeii and Herculaneum to posterity.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: History of Art 2 (HIAR08012) OR ( Architectural History 2A (ARHI08002) AND Architectural History 2B (ARHI08003))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should have at least 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.

** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  15
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Revision Session Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 173 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1 two-hour examination paper (50%) and 1 extended essay (50%)
Feedback All students will participate in a compulsory feed-forward session towards the middle of the semester. The precise content of the exercise will be determined in advance.
At the end of the semester all students will have their essays returned with written feedback. They will be invited to a one-on-one meeting with the course tutor which will be timetabled after the last class.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)Antiquity Recovered: Imag(in)ing Pompeii and Herculaneum2:00
Academic year 2017/18, Part-year visiting students only (VV1) Quota:  2
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1 two-hour examination paper (50%) and 1 extended essay (50%)
Feedback All students will participate in a compulsory feed-forward session towards the middle of the semester. The precise content of the exercise will be determined in advance.
At the end of the semester all students will have their essays returned with written feedback. They will be invited to a one-on-one meeting with the course tutor which will be timetabled after the last class.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Have gained detailed knowledge of a range of ancient artefacts from the buried cities - mosaics, sculptures, paintings and silverware - and a critical understanding of the various post-classical media and contexts in which they have been reworked.
  2. Engage with key art historical debates surrounding the study of these artefacts (e.g. originals vs. copies; Greece vs. Rome, public vs. private and theories of reception).
  3. Use this range of objects and texts, both primary and secondary, and will have grasped the multiple ways in which the ancient past was unearthed and manipulated to suit an early modern audience.
  4. Apply Analytical tools to the existing historiography on the sites which has been fragmented into different specialist areas of study and so denied its inherent interdisciplinarity.
  5. Call into question the (mis?)use of retrospective art historical labels like neoclassicism and romanticism onto the study of material culture.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Viccy Coltman
Tel: (0131 6)50 8426
Email:
Course secretaryMrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email:
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information
 
© Copyright 2017 The University of Edinburgh - 6 February 2017 7:55 pm