NEW YORK UNIVERSITY IN Fall 2010 V43.9005.001

Renaissance Art

Instructor: Jane Zaloga ( [email protected] ) Room: British Institute Library Office Hours: Monday after class or by appointment M 9:00-10:30, AND W 9:00-10:30 OR W 10:30-12:00

Description This course will introduce you to Renaissance Art from the period ca. 1280-1700. In this period, a dynamic artistic culture emphasized intense creativity while, paradoxically, remaining deeply rooted in tradition. Guided by an evolving practice and theory, artists transformed their activity from craft into intellectual discipline. Taking advantage of your semester in Florence, we will focus primarily on Italian art and architecture and its relation to that of other European centers. We will use the city of Florence itself as our classroom as we study the development of Renaissance Art in context during this dramatic period.

We will study paintings, sculpture, and architecture of this period from a variety of perspectives. We will examine aesthetic and stylistic qualities, explore issues of social, political and economic contexts, as well as investigate the function of art, a concern that was critical to artistic production of the period. As the works we will study are often still in their original physical settings, we will have a unique opportunity to experience the works as their original viewers did and as their creators intended. By looking at the works of art and architecture from such multiple vantage points, you will hopefully come to a richer understanding of the masterpieces of Renaissance Art.

Methodology The course will meet twice a week. On Mondays, we will all meet from 9:00 until 10:30 at the British Institute Library for a slide lecture in the classroom. On Wednesdays, we will have a site visit, meeting directly at Florentine churches and museums, as noted on the course schedule. For these Wednesday site visits, the first section will meet from 9:00 until 10:30; the second section will meet from 10:30 until 12:00. The format of the class meetings will include lectures and discussion.

Requirements Class Participation and Attendance (10%) and Grading Attendance at and participation in all class meetings and field trips are required. More than two absences will result in a lowering of your grade. Students who miss class for any reason are responsible for completing site visits on their own, and for obtaining class notes, handouts, assignments, and any information about class changes.

NYU in Florence provides you with a museum card, which grants you free, unlimited admission to many of the state museums. It is required for every site visit for this class that you bring this card AND another form of photo identification. Failure to do so will require that you pay for your own admission to the museum. You will often have to use this card for your looking assignments as well.

Looking Assignments (20%) Over the course of the semester, you are asked to do several outside looking assignments. These assignments are to consist of a series of notes, observations, and sketches, collected in a study journal, which will be turned in twice over the course of the semester.

Papers (20%) Two 5-page papers will be assigned, each worth 10% of your grade. Hard copies of papers, printed and stapled, must be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date. NO LATE HARD COPIES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Examinations: Mid-Term (25%) and Final (25%) A mid-term and a final will be given as noted on the course schedule. Exams will consist of a combination of slide identifications, short answers, definitions, multiple choice, and/or essays.

Readings : The required texts are Frederick Hartt and G. Wilkins, History of Art , seventh ed. and , Lives of the Artists, vol. I, Penguin edition , both of which may be purchased at the PAPERBACK EXCHANGE in Via delle Oche 4/r. Additional required readings, as noted on the syllabus, are available on-line and/or on reserve in the NYU in Florence library. All readings should be completed before each class so that you may fully participate in discussions. Additional short readings may be assigned over the course of the semester. V43.9005.001 Fall 2010 Renaissance Art

Course Schedule

Week 1 Florentine Art at the of the Renaissance 9.6 Lecture: Introduction to Course/ “Il più bello che si pùo:” Competition and Rivalry in the Late Middle Ages 9.8 Site Visit: Piazza Signoria and Santa Croce (meet under the in Piazza Signoria) 9.10 (Friday) Site Visit: Visit to collection (meet in front of door to Villa La Pietra) Looking: #1 Baptistery (4.00 euro entrance fee), Reading: Hartt-Wilkins (HW), read Chapters 1 & 2 Vasari, read Intro. & Prefaces to Part 1, 2, and 3 Gombrich, Introduction

Week 2 Painting and the Discovery of Perspective 9.13 Lecture: Giotto and the Art of the Trecento 9.15 Site Visit: Spanish Chapel and (meet in front of church of Santa Maria Novella) Looking: #2 (paper #1 assigned; due via email 4 Oct; hard copy 6 Oct ) Recommended, not required: (€4.00; reservation recommended) 9.17 (Friday) Lecture: Masaccio and Painting (in regular classroom) Reading: HW, read Chapters 3, 4 & 5 (to p. 148); Chapters 8 & 9 Vasari, Life of Giotto and Life of Masaccio Gombrich, postscript (“Approaches to Art History”) (CP)

Week 3 Quattrocento Sculpture: The Antique and the Origins of the Renaissance 9.20 Lecture: Donatello and the Rebirth of Monumental Sculpture 9.22 Site Visit: Museum (meet at Bargello, corner of Via Ghibellina and Via del Proconsolo) Looking: #3 Reading: HW, read Chapter 7; Ch. 10 (pp. 249-261); Ch. 13 (pp. 327-330); Ch. 16 (p.471-473) Vasari, Life of Donatello

Sat. Both sections REQUIRED 1- FIELD STUDY TRIP TO SIENA 9.25 Read: HW, review Chap. 2 (pp.57-64); read Ch. 4; Ch. 7 (pp.196-201) Looking: #4 (TBA)

Week 4 Quattrocento Architecture: Proportion and Measure 9.27 Lecture: Brunelleschi and Early Quattrocento Architecture

9.28, Tuesday Required Lecture :Style and Costume: 's Portraits of Women 6 PM Janet Cox-Rearick, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Art, The Graduate Center, CUNY, NY

9.29 Site Visit: Cupola and San Lorenzo Section 002 (9:00) meet on steps of Duomo Section 003 (10:30) meet in front of Church of San Lorenzo Looking: #4 Hospital of the Innocents Reading: HW, read Chapter 6; Chapter 10 (pp. 239-249); Chapter 12 Vasari, Life of Brunelleschi

Renaissance Art Course Schedule, continued

Week 5 Beyond the Alps: Flemish and Florentine Painters and Patrons 10.4 Paper #1 due Lecture: Flemish and Florentine Painters and Patrons 10.6 Paper #1 due Site Visit: Uffizi Gallery (meet at reserved entrance of the Uffizi) Looking: #5 Uffizi Gallery (paper #2 assigned; due via email 22 Nov; hard copy 24 Nov ) Reading: HW, read Chapter 11; Chapter 13 Gombrich, Chapter 12 (235-245); Chapter 14 Ruda, “Flemish Painting...” and Harbison, “Realism and Symbolism...” (JSTOR)

Week 6 Art and Science 10.11 Lecture: Leonardo da Vinci: Artist and Scientist 10.13 Site Visit: Sant’Apollonia and San Marco (meet in Piazza San Marco) Looking: #6 Ognissanti OR Reading: HW, read Chapter 16; review Chapter 9 (pp. 222-231) & Ch. 11 (pp. 262, 271-278) Vasari, Life of Leonardo Gombrich, Chapter 17

Week 7 MID-TERM EXAM WEEK 10.18 Lecture: MID-TERM EXAM - Looking Assignments due (Part I - #1-5) 10.20 Site Visit: Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (meet in front of museum, behind Duomo) Looking: NONE Reading: Review readings for mid-term exam; for site visit (MOD) - HW: read Chapter 10 (pp. 249-261); Chap. 20 (pp. 658-659)

Week 8 MID-TERM BREAK - No class 10.25-10.27

Week 9 The High Renaissance: Michelangelo 11.1 National Holiday - NO CLASS 11.3 Site Visit: Accademia Gallery (meet at reserved entrance to the Accademia Gallery) Looking: NONE Recommended, not required: Reading: HW, read Ch. 16 (pp. 469-480); Ch. 17 (pp. 503-521) Vasari, Life of Michelangelo (1 st part - through and including )

Fri 11.05 W 9:00 REQUIRED 1-DAY FIELD STUDY TRIP TO ROME

Sat 11.06 W 10:30 REQUIRED 1-DAY FIELD STUDY TRIP TO ROME

Read: HW, Ch.14 (pp. 369-387); Ch. 17; Ch.20 (pp. 648-658; 683-691) Gombrich, Chapter 19 (to p. 397) and Chapter 21

Week 10 The High Renaissance 11.8 Lecture: Michelangelo 11.10 Site Visit: New Sacristy and (meet BEHIND church of S. Lorenzo) Looking: #7 TBA Reading: HW, review previous readings on Michelangelo; read Chapter 18 (pp. 543-554) Vasari, Life of Michelangelo (2nd half); Life of Raphael

Renaissance Art Course Schedule, continued

Week 11 The High Renaissance in Venice 11.15 Lecture: Colorito and the Art of Venice 11.17 Site Visit: Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace (meet near ticket window of Pitti Palace) Looking: #8 Uffizi Reading: HW, read Chapter 15; Chapter 19; Chapter 16 (pp. 480-485) Vasari, Life of Titian

Week 12 The “Maniera” and Court Art 11.22 Paper #2 due Lecture: Absolute Rulers and “Mannerist” Style 11.24 Paper #2 due Site Visit: Bronzino Exhibition, (meet in courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi) Looking: #9 of Santa Felicità Reading: HW, read Ch. 18 (pp. 555-589); Ch. 20 (pp. 660-681) Gombrich, Chapter 18 (371-385); Vasari, Life of Andrea del Sarto - available at: (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari-lives.html ) Cellini, Autobiography - available at: http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Autobiography-of-Benvenuto-Cellini8.html

Week 13 The Age of the Baroque 11.29 Lecture: A New Vision: 17 th Century Changes 12.1 Site Visit: Uffizi Gallery (meet at the reserved entrance to the Uffizi Gallery) Looking: #10 Piazza Signoria Reading: HW, read Chapter 20 (pp. 681-691) Gombrich, Chapters 19, 20, 21

Week 14 Conclusions and Review 12.6 Lecture: Conclusions and Review 12.8 Site Visit: National Holiday - NO CLASS Looking: NONE Reading: Review all

Week 15 Final Exam Week 12.13 Lecture: FINAL EXAM - Looking Assignments due (Part II - #6-10)

Required Course Readings :

Schedule of Course Readings (those NOT included in Hartt/Wilkins, Vasari)

Week 1 Gombrich, Introduction Week 2 Gombrich, postscript (“Approaches to Art History”) Week 5 Gombrich, Chapter 12 (235-245); Chapter 14; Ruda, “Flemish Painting...” and Harbison, “Realism and Symbolism...” (both available on JSTOR) Week 6 Gombrich, Chapter 17 Rome Gombrich, Chapter 19 (to p. 397) and Chapter 21 Week 12 Gombrich, Chapter 18 (371-385); Vasari, Life of Andrea del Sarto (be prepared for discussion in class); Cellini, Autobiography (be prepared for discussion in class) Week 13 Gombrich, Chapters 19, 20, 21

Gombrich, E.H. The Story of Art , 15 th ed., London: Phaidon, 1995. Available in NYU in Florence Library – catalog website: http://librarycatalog.nyu.florence.it/webif/user_nyu1/

Ruda, Jeffrey. “Flemish Painting and the Early Renaissance in Florence: Questions of Influence” in Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte , 47 Bd., H. 2 (1984), pp. 210-236 Available on JSTOR: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1482190

Harbison, Craig. “Realism and Symbolism in Early Flemish Painting” in The Art Bulletin 66, No. 4 (Dec., 1984), pp. 588-602. Available on JSTOR: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3050474

Vasari, Giorgio, “Life of Andrea del Sarto” in Lives of the Artists in Lives of the Artists (vol. II) Available at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vasari/vasari-lives.html

Cellini, Benvenuto. Autobiography (read through and including Section LXXVIII; these parts discuss Cellini’s criticism of Bandinelli’s Hercules statue and Cellini’s account of the casting of his own Perseus ) Available at: http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Autobiography-of-Benvenuto-Cellini8.html

Recommended Books : you may wish to supplement your reading with overviews of the following books:

- Hall’s Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art - Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art and/or Anne D’Alleva, How to Write Art History - Robert Klein and Henri Zerner, Italian Art 1500-1600: Documents and Sources.

Web Sites - generally speaking, museum web sites and uninversity web sites are excellent resources. Via Bobst Library, you can also access JSTOR, Oxford/Grove Art On-Line, ARTstor (for images). Other sources you may find helpful include: http://www.writingaboutart.org/index.html www.wga.hu – a web site from Hungary (in English), with a very good selection of images that you may find helpful as you study

From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 22, 1998- January 21, 1999 http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Vaneyck/VAN_EYCK.HTM

On Sistine Chapel (not very good quality images, but does give complete program) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html

Essential Vermeer http://www.essentialvermeer.com/