VSA2520

Italian Renaissance art: power, patronage and imagination

(ART)

John Gregory

6 points + 2 hours per week + Second semester + Clayton + Prequisites: A first-year sequence in Visual Culture + Prohibition: VSA3520

Synopsis: This subject will address some of the ways in which artists, patrons and members of the wider community were involved in making and using art and architecture in Renaissance Italy. Issues to be considered will include: the differing modes of patronage employed by communal, courtly and papal governments; regional variations of style and theme, especially the contrast between influential Florentine models and other centres including Siena, Venice, Rome and Naples; and the evolution of forms and genres such as perspective, portraiture, and palace, villa and garden design. Both primary sources and recent re-readings of Renaissance culture will be integrated as appropriate.

Assessment: Seminar paper (1000 words): 25% + Visual test (1000 words): 25% + Essay (2500 words): 50%