Sixteenth-century studies
Proposed to be offered next in 1997
J Gregory
8 points * 3 hours per week * Second semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: Two visual arts subjects at first-year level
Various aspects of the art and architecture of the period will be addressed with a central, though not exclusive, emphasis on the Italian cinquecento. Themes and issues to be discussed may include the Tuscan-Roman imperative and its alternative (especially in Northern Italy); changes of emphases in art theory, the status of the visual arts, the development of academies; patterns of patronage and art collecting; attitudes to antiquity and mythology; antiquarianism; developments in sculpture, drawing and print-making; theory and practice in architecture and urbanism; gardens, villas, fountains and grottoes; spectacles, festivals and theatre; illusionism, ceiling painting and related developments; social and intellectual change and the visual arts; Reformation and Counter-Reformation and their impact. Primary sources and recent revaluations will be emphasised throughout.
Assessment
Seminar paper (1500 words): 25% * Essay (3000 words): 50% * Visual test (1.5 hours): 25%
Preliminary reading
Cellini B Autobiography tr. G Bull, Penguin, 1969
Vasari G Lives of the artists tr. G Bull, Penguin, 1982
Prescribed texts
Blunt A Artistic theory in Italy, 1450-1600, OUP, 1962
Michelangelo Life, letters and poetry ed. G Bull, OUP, 1987
Shearman J Mannerism Pelican, 1967
Recommended texts
Hale J (ed.) A Concise encyclopedia of the Italian Renaissance Thames and Hudson, 1981