Undergraduate Course: Expanding Vision: Visual Culture in France from the Limbourgs to Leonardo (HIAR10014)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course considers the most significant painters and patrons active in France from the time of the Limbourg brothers (d.1416) until the period spent by Leonardo da Vinci in France between 1516 and 1519. While attention is paid to examining general problems in the attribution and dating of works of art, as well as to the development of style and influences from abroad, the emphasis of the course is on exploring ways in which general practices of looking were shaped by a range of new cultural experiences involving vision. Among topics addressed in the course are: the relevance of optical aids, such as spectacles and mirrors; changing attitudes to the natural world and to beauty; the development of viewing habits associated with architecture, especially windows; ways in which sculpture and other works of material culture changed conceptions of the use of space; and broadening uses of images across the social spectrum. The role of France in the broader development of visual culture in late medieval and Renaissance Europe is one of the major issues that the course seeks to define. The course is structured by examining in chronological sequence a series of key works of art, beginning with illuminated books of hours associated with the duke of Berry and ending with tapestries, stained glass and printed books designed by artists active in Paris during the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Important personalities in the development of French culture during this period, such as Christine de Pisan, Joan of Arc, Ren'eacute; of Anjou, Jean Fouquet and Anne of Brittany will be investigated. Since relatively few large-scale paintings survive from this period from France, manuscript illumination is a prominent feature of the course. Study will make extensive use of both modern facsimiles of important books of the period and also original manuscripts in Edinburgh collections. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Assess key developments in painting and manuscript illumination in France between c.1380 and c.1520.
- Engage with approaches that help to identify, date and contextualize works of art during this period. Interpret examples of painting of this period by means of visual analysis.
- Apply critical attitudes to understanding works of art in their original contexts through observation and through reading of original documentary sources. Critique recent scholarly literature relating to this period.
- Evaluate the significance of the arts of France of this period within the broader history of Western visual culture.
- Explain differences in practices of looking developed in France during this period. Identify the principle painterly techniques practiced in France at this time.
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Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Bryony Coombs
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Nathan Ross-Hammond
Tel: (0131 6)51 5880
Email: |
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