Queen’s University
ARTH 214
RENAISSANCE ART AND ARCHITECTURE TO 1500
Times: Mondays, 5:30-8:30PM
Location: Dunning
Instructor: Dr. Allison Sherman 305, Ontario Hall
Office Hours: Mondays, 12-2PM, or by appointment
e-mail: [email protected]
Learning Outcomes:
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Learning to think critically and objectively about what history tells us is
important.
Obtaining a sense of the chronological progression and geographical focus of the
Renaissance in Italy and the North up to the year 1500.
How works of art are produced: methods and materials.
Learn why works of art were created in this period – issues of “patronage”.
Acquire a vocabulary/terminology for describing these works formally and
visually.
Learn to “read” the visual symbols/language or “iconography” of paintings.
Acquire a sense of social context: religious, economic, political, intellectual,
cultural circumstances that form the backdrop of the Renaissance, including
issues relating to their ideas about: nature/science, Antiquity, ideal beauty, the
status of the artist, technical innovation and communication.
Develop a “period eye”: an analytical method used by art historians that was
developed by Michael Baxandall – a means of attempting to understand works of
art by reconstructing the mental, physical, cultural and visual equipment
possessed by the original viewer for whom the work/monument was created.
Method of Evaluation
Fall Term:
Mini Slide Test
Essay
Slide Test
Take-Home Exam
In class September 29th
Due in class October 20th
November 10th
Due December 16th
15%
25%
30%
30%
Students will be provided with a number grade for all assignments, but their final mark
will be calculated in the form of a letter grade (see below).
SLIDE TESTS:
The slide tests will be based on material from class lectures and readings. If you have
never written a slide test before, not to worry: there will be a mini slide test to prepare
you for a more substantial slide test in November, followed by slide test review and
workshop one week before the November test.
The mini slide test will consist of ten slides. These will all be drawn from works
discussed in lectures. You will be asked to provide: the artist, title, date (within 10 years
either way), medium and location of the work AND one sentence that provides a
MEANINGFUL fact about the work. This is intended as a preparatory or warm-up
exercise for the larger, more in-depth slide test that will follow in November.
The second slide test will be longer and more in-depth. It will consist of 5 single slides,
drawn from class material up to the date of the test. You must provide the name, title,
date (within 10 years), medium and location of the work, and must compose a substantial
statement outlining the significance of the work, incorporating your use of terminology,
knowledge of technique, function, patronage and context for the work of art.
There will also be 2 comparison questions. You will still provide the artist, title, date
(within 5 years either way), medium and location of the work, but you will also be
required to provide deeper and more critical comparative analysis of the two works as
part of your response.
**Again, there will be a slide test review in class in which more specific instructions will
be given, as well as an optional study workshop in advance of the test.
Failure to write the slide tests for reasons other than documented illness or bereavement
will result in a mark of zero on these assignments.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:
There will be one mandatory essay assignment. The paper will consist of approximately
800 words (about 4 pages double-spaced, properly footnoted and with bibliography if
secondary sources are employed).
If you are unclear about how to cite your sources, visit:
http://library.queensu.ca/help/cite-sources
A description of this assignment will be posted on Moodle from the first week of
class and there will be a review of expectations in class in advance of the deadline.
Marks will be deducted for late assignments at the rate of 5% per day.
Extensions will be permitted under two conditions only: documented illness or
bereavement. If you cannot provide documentation you will receive a mark of zero on the
assignment.
TAKE-HOME EXAM:
In order to remove a bit of the anxiety associated with a formally proctored exam, I make
use of Moodle technology to assign a take-home exam that will be distributed and
submitted online. You will have a number of days to prepare an essay on one of three
topics relating to major course themes – these will require you to draw on material and
visual examples from throughout the course. Further details TBA. To be submitted via
MOODLE before 12AM on December 16th.
TEXTBOOKS
The following textbooks are available at the Campus Bookstore and copies will be on
reserve at the circulation desk at Stauffer Library:
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Frederick Hartt, History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture,
Architecture (4th edition) - required.
Craig Harbison, The Art of the Northern Renaissance - required.
** Please note this text may be available for much less on Amazon.
*** In order to reduce textbook costs for ARTH 214 and ARTH 215, we have opted
not to use James Snyder’s Northern Renaissance Art this year. This text does
remain an excellent resource, particularly for studying for slide tests. Several copies
will be on reserve at the circulation desk of Stauffer Library.
Schedule of Lectures for the Fall Term (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Sept. 8:
Introduction and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance: Basic Introduction to the
“International Styles”
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 1
Sept. 15:
Italian Gothic Architecture: the Mendicant Orders and Churches for Preaching in
Assisi and Florence; Civic Cathedrals in Florence and Siena
Gothic Sculpture: the Pisani and Arnolfo di Cambio
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 2
Sept. 22:
ATTENDANCE OF THIS LECTURE IS ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE –
it forms the basis of your essays on the Arena Chapel, and a review for the
mini slide test will be given.
Italian Gothic Painting. Altarpieces and Frescoes: Technique, Function and Style
in Major Works by Berlinghieri, Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto and Simone Martini
Narrative and Moral Lesson in Sacred and Secular Spaces: S. Francesco, Assisi;
Giotto at the Arena Chapel
Reading: Hartt, Chapters 3, 4 & 5
Sept. 29:
Late Gothic and International Gothic in the North: the Arts of Luxury in the
Courts of Charles V; Louis of Anjou; Jean, Duc de Berry; Charles the Bold of
Burgundy
Reading: Harbison, Chapter 1.
**AND Mini Slide Test**
Oct. 6: Early Italian Renaissance Architecture and Sculpture: Brunelleschi and Ghiberti at
the Florentine Duomo and Baptistery
Reading: Hartt, Chapters 6 & 7
Early Italian Renaissance Sculpture, cont’d: Ghiberti and Donatello at
Orsanmichele; the Singing Galleries for the Florentine Duomo
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 10
Review of Expectations for the Essay (*due in two weeks)
OCTOBER 13 – THANKSGIVING – NO CLASSES
Oct. 20 Painting in Early Renaissance Florence I: Lorenzo Monaco, Gentile da Fabriano,
and Early Works by Masaccio and Masolino
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 8
Painting in Early Renaissance Florence I, cont’d: Death and Taxes: the Brancacci
Chapel; Masaccio’s Trinity (and Perspectival Theory)
ESSAY DUE!!
Oct. 27:
Painting in the North: “Disguised Symbolism” in Campin and Van Eyck; the Cult
of St. Joseph in the North
Painting in the North, cont’d: More on Jan Van Eyck; Rogier van der Weyden and
Hugo van der Goes
Reading: Harbison, Chapters 2 and 3
Nov. 3:
Painting in Early Renaissance Florence II: Fra Angelico at San Marco; Fra Filippo
Lippi; Domenico Veneziano and Andrea del Castagno
Reading: Hartt, Chapters 9 & 11
Painting in Early Renaissance Florence II, cont’d: Paolo Uccello and Piero della
Francesca.
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 12
**Slide test review
Nov. 10:
SLIDE TEST
**AND
Art at the Italian Courts: Alberti in Rimini and Mantua; Andrea Mantegna
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 15, pp. 384-395 (section on Andrea Mantegna)
Nov. 17:
Art at the Italian Courts, cont’d: Ferrara and Urbino
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 14
Painting and Sculpture in the North II: Memlinc and David
Reading: Harbison, Chapter 4 and “Printmaking” in Chapter 2 (pp. 75-6)
Schongauer’s prints and Early Renaissance Painting in Venice: Antonello da
Messina, the Bellini and Carpaccio; the Venetian Scuole and the “Eyewitness
Style”
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 15 (except pp. 384-395)
Nov. 24:
Italian Sculpture 1450-1500: Later Donatello, Verrocchio, Antonio del Pollaiuolo
Reading: Hartt, Chapter 12 & Chapter 13 up to p. 330
Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino at Home; and in the Sistine Chapel (before
Michelangelo)
Reading: Hartt, rest of Chapter 13 to p. 358.
TAKE HOME EXAM REVIEW
Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity is constituted by the five core fundamental values of honesty,
trust, fairness, respect and responsibility (see www.academicintegrity.org). These
values are central to the building, nurturing and sustaining of an academic community
in which all members of the community will thrive. Adherence to the values
expressed through academic integrity forms a foundation for the "freedom of inquiry
and exchange of ideas" essential to the intellectual life of the University (see the
Senate Report on Principles and Priorities
http://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senateandtrustees/principlespriorities.html
). Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the regulations
concerning academic integrity and for ensuring that their assignments conform to the
principles of academic integrity. Information on academic integrity is available in the
Arts and Science Calendar (see Academic Regulation 1
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/academic-calendars/regulations/academicregulations/regulation-1), on the Arts and Science website (see
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/academics/undergraduate/academic-integrity), and from
the instructor of this course. Departures from academic integrity include plagiarism,
use of unauthorized materials, facilitation, forgery and falsification, and are
antithetical to the development of an academic community at Queen's. Given the
seriousness of these matters, actions which contravene the regulation on academic
integrity carry sanctions that can range from a warning or the loss of grades on an
assignment to the failure of a course to a requirement to withdraw from the
university.
Copyright
Much of the material provided in our department’s art history courses (course
websites, exams, professors’ lecture notes, etc.) is for the sole use of students
registered in the courses and should not be distributed or disseminated to anyone
other than registered students. To do so may be in violation of copyright and may
also constitute a breach of academic integrity.
Grading
For art history courses offered by the Department of Art, students will be given letter
grades for course work and final marks. Some professors may choose to modify this
scheme to include percentage grades for course work of a quantifiable nature. The precise
nature of each course's grading scheme will be indicated on the syllabus.
For the purpose of calculating final grades, professors will use the Arts and Science
Letter Grade Input Scheme, in which professors adopt the following numerical values to
replace letter grades.
Letter Grade
Assigned
Numerical Calculation
Value
A+
93
A
87
A-
82
B+
78
B
75
B-
72
C+
68
C
65
C-
62
D+
58
D
55
D-
52
F48 (F+)
48
F24 (F)
24
0
0
To convert final calculated numbers back to letter grades, Queen's Official Grade
Conversion Scale
will be used (grade point equivalencies are also shown).
Numerical Range Grade Grade Grade Point Equivalent
90-100
A+
4.3
85-89
A
4.0
80-84
A-
3.7
77-79
B+
3.3
73-76
B
3.0
70-72
B-
2.7
67-69
C+
2.3
63-66
C
2.0
60-62
C-
1.7
57-59
D+
1.3
53-56
D
1.0
50-52
D-
0.7
49 and below
F
0.0