FIH 215 Renaissance and Mannerism
Mondays 4:30-7:30 MOL 011
Instructor: Dr. Allison Fisher
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Tuesdays 9:30-11:30am
This course studies religious and secular European art from the so-called
rebirth of Greco-Roman Antiquity in the early 15th century to the High
Renaissance and Mannerism of the late 16th century. Art and its issues
will be addressed from both contextual and critical approaches in art
history. Particular attention will be given to the Italian Renaissance in
Florence, Rome and Venice, the Northern Renaissance in the
Netherlands, Flanders, France, Germany and England, and the
Renaissance in Spain.
During this period, the role of the artist was also changing. No longer an
anonymous craftsman, the Renaissance artist was educated, highly
technically-skilled, and became a key player in the dissemination of new
techniques and classical ideas through his works. In our study, we will
examine works produced by canonical artistic figures including Botticelli,
Jan Van Eyck, Raphael, Michelangelo, Durer and Leonardo, in addition
to many lesser known—but equally fascinating—masters. We will trace
the evolution of Renaissance art as it developed in distinct directions in
various urban centres, and we will explore the artistic links between Italy
and the North as new ideas flowed across broad geographic borders.
Learning Outcomes:
o To familiarize students with the principal works of art during
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries across Western Europe
o To present a historical understanding of these objects in their local
and cultural contexts
o To develop the ability of critical analysis of historical monuments
o To gain knowledge of terminology, stylistic classifications, methods,
and theories employed in art and architectural History
o To critically analyze primary and secondary source materials
General Course Policies:
1. Emails:
a. Assignments will not be accepted through email.
b. Grades will not be discussed through email.
c. Be sure to identify your name and contact information in the
email!
d. I am more than happy to answer any questions and provide
help with assignments in emails.
2. Assignments turned in late will be reduced by 10% each day they are
late and will not be accepted after more than 5 days after the
deadline. Assignments are considered late after the start of class the
day they are due.
3. Syllabi and other relevant course information will be posted for
WebCT.
4. Enrollment in the course constitutes an agreement to participate in
class and to take exams. Makeup exams will not be given except
under extreme circumstances.
Grading Scheme:
Visual Analysis
Test
Patronage Assignment
Tableau Vivant
Essay
20%
25%
15%
10%
30%
Visual Analysis:
Students will write a brief description and visual analysis of a painting,
max. 750 words. Select a work from a painter who will be discussed in
class. More information will follow.
Due: Class 5
Test:
One test will be given during class 6 (week after Thanksgiving). The test
format will consist of slide identification, short answers, and a brief essay
comparing two pieces of art. The test will be based on the course lectures
and required readings.
Test: Class 6
Patronage Assignment:
Based on readings discussed in class, students will propose a
hypothetical work of art to a Florentine patron, justifying the subject
matter, medium, and technique based on the context provided. Students
are encouraged to be creative with the assignment and create a drawing,
painting, collage, etc. to accompany their text. Students will be receive
more details in class 4.
Due: Class 8
Tableau Vivant:
Students, working in small groups, will construct a tableau vivant, based
on a painting or sculpture studied, and present it to the class. Following
the tableau vivant presentation, the class will engage in a discussion on
the realism of the figures and poses.
Due: Class 10
Essay:
Each of you will be required to write a 6 to 8-page research paper,
focusing on the reception of a work of painting, sculpture or architecture,
and/or artist. The essay should include a full discussion of the topic,
including proper source citation, and a works cited page—you are
required to use Chicago Manual Style formatting. More information will
follow in class.
Due: Class 12
Readings:
All readings are listed weekly in the syllabus and will supplement topics
covered in the lectures. All required readings will be available in your
course pack of readings.
There is no required textbook for the course. However, you may wish to
purchase a copy of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists (various editions).
Recommended Reading:
Laurie Schneider Adams, Italian Renaissance Art (2001).
Sarah Blake McHam, ed., Looking at Italian Renaissance Sculpture (1998).
Bruce Cole, Italian Art 1250-1550 (1987).
Marcia Hall, After Raphael: Painting in Central Italy in the SixteenthCentury (1999).
Craig Harbison, The Mirror of the Artist: Northern Renaissance Art in its
Historical Context (1995).
Frederick Hartt, History of Italian Renaissance Art (various editions).
Linda Murray, The High Renaissance and Mannerism (1978).
Peter Murray, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance (1997).
Susie Nash, Northern Renaissance Art (2008).
Loren Partridge, The Art of Renaissance Rome: 1400-1600 (1996).
James Snyder, Northern Renaissance Art (various editions).
Richard Turner, Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art (1997).
Evelyn Welch, Art in Renaissance Italy (1997).
Course Outline:
Class 1: Fourteenth Century Art in Europe and the Origins of the
Renaissance
Readings: "Christian Imagery and Worship," in Giotto to Durer: Early
Renaissance Painting in The National Gallery, ed. Jill Dunkerton et al.
(London: National Gallery, 1991), pp. 22-76.
Giorgio Vasari, "Preface to the Lives" in Lives of the Artists, trans. George
Bull (London: Penguin, 1987), pp. 25-47.
Class 2: Early Renaissance Architecture and Sculpture in Florence
Readings: A. Richard Turner, Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a
New Art (New York: H. N. Abrams, 1997), "Introduction," pp. 9-21.
Evelyn Welch, Art in Renaissance Italy 1350-1500 (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1997), chapter 3, "The Organization of Art", pp. 78-101.
Class 3: Fifteenth-century Painting in Florence
Reading: Leon Battisa Alberti, "On Painting and On Sculpture," in
Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth Bartlett, 2nd ed. (North
York: University of Toronto Press, 2011), pp. 167-72.
Class 4: Fifteenth-century Art in Northern and Central Italy
Readings: "Instructions of Isabella d'Este to Perugino," in Civilization of
the Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth Bartlett, 2nd ed. (North York:
University of Toronto Press, 2011), pp. 164-66.
Peter Humfrey, Painting in Renaissance Venice (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1995), "Introduction," pp. 1-35.
Class 5: Early Netherlandish Art
Readings: M. Ainsworth, "Workshop Practice in Early Netherlandish
Painting: An Inside View," in From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early
Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998), pp. 205-211.
Craig Harbison, The Mirror of the Artist: Northern Renaissance Art in its
Historical Context (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995), "Introduction: The
Self-Conscious Pragmatic Artist," pp. 7-23.
Susie Nash, Northern Renaissance Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2008), ch. 2, "Dispersal and Destruction," pp. 10-24.
Kim W. Woods, "Netherlandish Networks," in Locating Renaissance Art,
ed. Carole Richardson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 6599.
Class 6: Fifteenth-century Art in France, England, Germany and
Spain
TEST
Class 7: Origins of the High Renaissance
Readings: Creighton Gilbert, Italian Art 1400-1500 (Englewood Cliffs, N.
J.: Prentice-Hall, 1980), "A Painter Comes to Rome to See the Sights," pp.
101-03.
Italian Art 1500-1600, Sources and Documents, eds. Robert Klein and
Henri Zerner (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966), "The
Installation of Michelangelo's David," pp. 39-44.
Christiane Joost-Gaugier, Italian Renaissance Art: Understanding its
Meaning (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), "Some Other Artists of the
High Renaissance," pp. 184-99.
Leonardo da Vinci, Selection from Notebooks, in Civilization of the Italian
Renaissance, ed. Kenneth Bartlett, 2nd ed. (North York: University of
Toronto Press, 2011), pp. 177-81.
Vasari, "Preface Part Three" in Lives of the Artists, trans. George Bull
(London: Penguin, 1987), pp. 249-54.
Class 8: High Renaissance in Rome
Readings: Costanza Barbieri, "The Competition between Raphael and
Michelangelo and Sebastiano's Role in It," in The Cambridge Companion
to Raphael, ed. Marcia Hall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2005), pp. 141-64.
Peter Partner, Renaissance Rome 1500-1559 (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1976), pp. 25-46.
Class 9: Venice in the Sixteenth Century + Early Mannerism
Readings: Deborah Howard, "Venice: Society and Culture," in Bellini,
Giorgione, Titian and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting, eds. David
Alan Brown and Barbara Hepburn Berrie (New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 2006), pp. 1-10; David Alan Brown, "Venetian Painting
and the Invention of Art," in ibid., pp. 15-38.
John Shearman, Mannerism (London: Penguin, 1990), pp. 15-30 + 39-48.
Class 10: Mannerism and Late Sixteenth-century Art in Italy
Readings: A Documentary History of Art, ed. E. Holt, vol. II (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1982), "The Council of Trent and Religious
Art," pp. 62-70.
Benvenuto Cellini, Selections from Autobiography, in Civilization of the
Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth Bartlett, 2nd ed. (North York: University
of Toronto Press, 2011), pp. 292-303.
Class 11: Early Sixteenth Century Art in Northern Europe
Reading: M. Ainsworth, "Religious Painting from 1500-1550: Continuity
and Innovation on the Eve of the Iconoclasm," in From Van Eyck to
Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998), pp. 319-27.
Class 12: Later Sixteenth Century Art in Northern Europe
Readings: Alan Phipps Darr, "Pietro Torrigiani and his sculpture in
Henrician England: sources and influences in The Anglo-Florentine
Renaissance: Art for the Early Tudors, ed. Cinzia Maria Sicca and Louis A.
Waldman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 49-80.
Derek Wilson, “Was Hans Holbein's Henry VIII the best piece of
propaganda ever?” The Telegraph (UK), April 23, 2009. (online)