Course outline
An outline of painting, sculpture, architecture and urban form in Italy from the early 13th to late 15th centuries. Art 31/32 prerequisite. Whereas lectures focus on understanding artistic monuments within their social, political, and religious context, students learn the language of artistic form through close study of individual objects in the National Gallery of Art. Scheduled visits with professor.
Course begins with a re-evaluation of the concept of the Renaissance as a revival of classical antiquity and the cult of individualism. From Florence, the cradle of humanism, lectures proceed to competing Tuscan schools (Siena, Pisa), and the diffusion of the new style around Italy (Assisi, Padua). We then compare the patterns of private and public patronage in these communal city-states with the artistic efflorescence of the despotic courts (Malatesta in Rimini, dšEste in Ferrara, Gonzaga in Mantua, Sforza in Milan, Montefeltro in Urbino), the papal court in Rome, and the independent maritime republic of Venice, marked by its long contact with the imperial tradition of Byzantium. Readings explore the relationship between artist and patron, the emergence of the artistic profession within the late-medieval guild structure, the impact of artistic theory, and the nature of workshop practice.
Course requirements
Three quizzes (60-75 minutes each). Slide identification and comparative analysis. Attendance at lecture is required. An undue number of absences may affect studentšs final grade. No make-up quizzes will be scheduled.
Grade distribution
| Quiz 1 | TBA | 30% |
| Quiz 2 | TBA | 30% |
| Quiz 3 | TBA | 40% |
Required texts (available at GWU Bookstore)
*Frederick Hartt, History of Italian Renaissance Art , 4th ed. (Prentice Hall-Abrams, 1994).
*Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1991).
*Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting, ed. Cecil Grayson (Penguin, 1988).
Optional: Bram Kempers, Painting, Power and Patronage. The Rise of the Professional Artist in Italy (Penguin, 1994)
Optional: Anabel Thomas, The Painteršs Practice in Renaissance Tuscany (Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Class Schedule (ignore dates)
Renaissance, Renascence, Rinascita: A Definition of Terms
Periodization of the Renaissance (Ghiberti, Vasari). "Culture" of the Renaissance: Burckhardt and his critics. Patronage of the guilds and conditions of art market.
Optional: Hartt, pp. 33~55.
Maniera Greca and the Byzantine Tradition
Pietro Cavallini and Jacopo Torriti in Rome. Coppo di Marcovaldo, Cimabue in Florence. Panel painting in Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Assisi.
Hartt, pp. 59~78.
Rise of the Mendicant Orders
Sculpture of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano (Pisa, Siena). Franciscan and Dominican foundations in Florence (S. Croce, S. Maria Novella), Todi (S. Fortunato). Public buildings (Palazzo Vecchio, Bargello).
Hartt, pp. 79~91.
"A Shadowed Fame:" Giotto and his Followers
Fresco cycles in Arena Chapel in Padua. Upper and Lower Church of San Francesco, Assisi.
Hartt, pp. 93~112.
Giotto: the Arena Chapel Frescoes
Stubblebine pp. 116~121
TBA; VISIT TO NATIONAL GALLERY (WEST)
The Guilds, Artistic Commissions, Family Chapels
Private chapels in Santa Croce (Giotto, Taddeo Gaddi, Maso di Banco, Bernardo Daddi), development of altarpiece. Giotto's campanile and reliefs; South doors of Baptistry (Andrea Pisano). Cennino Cennini's Libro dell'Arte.
Hartt, pp. 112~123.
Siena City of the Virgin
Duccio's Maesta. Decoration of the Palazzo Pubblico (Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti).
Hartt, pp. 125~149.
The Great Cathedrals
Building and ritual in cathedrals of Siena and Orvieto. Sculpture of Lorenzo Maitani.
Hartt, pp. 150~153, 168~169.
The Black Death
Francesco Traini in Pisa (Camposanto). Andrea Orcagna and Nardo di Cione at Santa Maria Novella, Or San Michele. Lorenzo Monaco.
Hartt, pp. 155~167.
PRESIDENTS DAY
TBA; QUIZ 1
The Competition of 1401
North doors of Baptistry (Ghiberti, Brunelleschi). Statues of Or San Michele (Donatello, Nanni di Banco, Ghiberti). Jacopo della Quercia (Porta del Paradiso, Bologna).
Hartt, pp. 199~221.
Brunelleschi's 'Cupolone'
Building of S. Maria del Fiore (Arnolfo di Cambio, Francesco Talenti), dome of Filippo Brunelleschi. Early ecclesiastical commissions (Ospedale degli Innocenti, Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo).
Hartt, pp. 181~221.
"Le cose d'arte" Light and Perspective
Gentile da Fabriano (Brescia, Florence). Masaccio and Masolino (Castiglione dšOlona, Florence, Rome). Discovery of perspective (Brunelleschi).
Hartt, pp. 223~243. Alberti, On Painting, Books I and II.
Alberti and the Rules of Composition
Della Pittura (1436). Fra Angelico in Florence (S. Marco), Rome (Chapel of Nicholas V). Fra Filippo Lippi. Maturity of Ghiberti, Michelozzo, and Donatello; Luca della Robbia.
Hartt, pp. 245~263, 275~276. Alberti, On Painting, Book III.
"His Mistress Perspective"
Domenico Veneziano, Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello in Florence. Piero della Francesca in Borgo Sansepolcro, Arezzo. Sienese painting (Sassetta, Giovanni di Paolo).
Hartt, 252~284, 277~282, 293~310. *Baxandall, "The Period Eye," pp. 29-108.
Building for Magnificence: Palaces in Medicean Florence
Civic palaces (Brunelleschi's Parte Guelfa); Private palaces (Medici, Pitti, Rucellai, Pazzi, Spinelli). Planning of Pienza under Pius II (Bernardo Rossellino).
Hartt, pp. 190~195, 265~269, 273~275.
Temple to a Despot
Alberti and Piero della Francesca at the court of Sigismondo Malatesta in Rimini; Agostino di Duccio and Matteo de'Pasti. Alberti at the court of the d'Este, Ferrara.
Hartt, pp. 265~2712. QUIZ 2
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
The Art of War and the Art of Pageantry - Naples and Urbino
Francesco Laurana at Naples (Aragonese Arch of Castello Nuovo). Patronage of Federigo da Montefeltro in the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino (Luciano Laurana, Piero della Francesca, Francesco di Giorgio Martini).
Hartt, pp. 310~327, 419~423.
Cult of the Antique in Verona and Padua
Pisanello and Mantegna at Verona (Sant'Anastasia, S. Zeno), sketchbooks after the antique (Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini). Donatello at the Santo, Padua. Mantegna at Ovetari Chapel, Padua.
Hartt, pp. 425~439.
TBA; QUIZ 2
Court Artist to the Gonzaga
Mantegna's paintings for Ludovico Gonzaga in the Castello Regia, Mantua (Camera Picta). Studiolo of Isabella d'Este and collections of antiquities. Alberti's late church designs (San Sebastiano, Sant'Andrea).
Hartt, pp. 439~444. *Baxandall, "Conditions of Trade," pp. 1-27.
Lowlands in Venice
Gentile Bellini; Antonello da Messina and introduction of oil medium to Venetian painting; early career of Giovanni Bellini.
Hartt, pp. 444~457.
The Serenissima Scuola and Campo in Renaissance Venice
Palazzo Ducale, Porta della Cartā; Ca' d'Oro (Bartolomeo Buon). Mauro Codussi (S. Michele in Isola, Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista, S. Zaccaria), Tullio Lombardi (S. Maria de' Miracoli). Cycle of Scuola di Sant'Ursula (Carpaccio).
Hartt, pp. 457~465.
The Sforza in Milan and Pavia
Influx of Florentine patronage and artists in Milan (Cappella Portinari, Sant'Eustorgio; Banco Mediceo). Filarete (Antonio Filarete) at the court of Francesco Sforza. Certosa di Pavia (Giovanni and Giuniforte Solari, Gian Cristoforo Romano, Giovanni and Antonio Amedeo). Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo.
Hartt, pp. 465~468.
Twilight of the Medici in Florence
Sculpture of late Donatello, Desiderio da Settignano, Bernardo and Antonio Rossellino, Mino da Fiesole, Benedetto da Maiano. Benozzo Gozzoli (Collegiata, San Geminiano; Medici Chapel). Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, S. Miniato). Cassone painting (Pessellino, Apollonia di Giovanni)
Hartt, pp. 329~357.
The Paragone of the Arts
Painting and sculpture of Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Andrea del Verrocchio (Florence, Venice); apprenticeship of Leonardo da Vinci (to 1482).
Hartt, pp. 359~371
Lorenzo il Magnifico and the Neoplatonic 'Academy'
Mythological paintings of Sandro Botticelli; Domenico Ghirlandaio (Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita); Filippino Lippi (Strozzi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella). Architectural projects of Giuliano da Sangallo (Florence, Prato, Poggio a Caiano).
Hartt, pp. 371~397.
TBA; QUIZ 3