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Home , Adriaen de Vries, Federico Zuccari, Mannerism, Peter Candid, School of Fontainebleau

HA2F9-30 : Art and Artistry in Sixteenth Europe

20/21

Department Level Undergraduate Level 2 Module leader Giorgio Tagliaferro Credit value 30 Module duration 10 weeks Assessment 100% coursework Study location University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Description

Introductory description

This long-view module intends to provide students with an overview of the evolution of the different arts (painting, , and ) in sixteenth-century Europe between the and periods, focusing in particular on significant art theorist, artists and artworks that contributed to originate the concept of Mannerism.

Module aims

Mannerism defines a key historical period in European arts, bridging the Renaissance and Baroque periods, which is characterised by a shift towards an increasingly more artful, idiosyncratic approach to artistic invention and practice. The term itself, however, is controversial, as it was forged by modern critics on the basis of the Italian sixteenth-century expression maniera (‘manner’, ‘’). The broad aim of this module is to bring to the fore a number of critical issues raised by the many-sided notion of Mannerism, provide an in-depth examination of a large body of artists and artworks (drawings, paintings, and architecture) associated with it. The module is based on student-centred seminars, and structured in such a way that students will be invited to reflect on how their understanding of the concept of Mannerism changes throughout. The module focuses on how theorists and artists developed new ways of conceiving of artistic practice, by placing unprecedented emphasis on the individual’s inventiveness and , and taking the ideal of beauty well beyond the rules of classical art that had prevailed in the . The analysis of theoretical principles elaborated by Italian treatise writers such as Vasari and Lomazzo is combined with an extensive survey of artistic practices and stylistic features that spread from across Europe in the sixteenth century. It is among the aims of the module to facilitate the students’ critical understanding of how Mannerism impacted on the development of Western art and how it has been discussed in modern scholarship. More in general, students will be confronted with problems that are crucial for the history of art on a more global basis, beyond the specificity of time and place (e.g. how to deal critically with periodisation, stylistic categories, complex theoretical concepts, etc.). Topics covered may include the emergence of anti- in early sixteenth-century , the development of art forms suitable for new kinds of courts ceremonials, and the diffusion of a transnational style in Western Europe connoted as Mannerism. Artists to be studied may include, among others: , , , , , , Hendrick Goltzius, Bartholomaeus Spranger, Hans von , Roelant Savery, , Willem van Tetrode, , Federico Barocci, , . The module will focus on important artistic contexts such as Florence, , Fontainebleau, , , and others.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The Renaissance concept of ‘maniera’ Mannerism and ‘maniera’ in the modern critique The rule and the license The ‘’ The example of Parmigianino Rosso Fiorentino Pontormo Bronzino Cellini Giambologna Salviati The Mannerism in architecture The School of Prague Art and Nature The question of the sacred images The Later Mannerists

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a grasp of the main lines of Mannerism-related artworks and the notion of Mannerism in theory • Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the works studied and their contexts • Deploy these ideas critically in relation to other forms of art • Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level • Develop an ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well- structured argument at an appropriate level • Become acquainted with essential ICT skills • Develop an ability to collaborate effectively with others • Show understanding of diverse viewpoints • Develop an ability to find, select, organise and synthesise evidence • Develop an ability to formulate a sustained argument • Think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level • Employ sophisticated conceptual and visual analysis • Develop bibliographical skills at an appropriate level • Analyse works of art with respect to the cultural and physical context • Gain confidence by speaking in front of works of art

Indicative reading list

Walter Friedlaender, Mannerism and Anti-mannerism in Italian Painting (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990). John Shearman, Mannerism (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967). , Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450–1600 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962) Arnold Hauser, Mannerism: The Crisis of the Renaissance and the Origin of (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965) Sydney J. Freedberg, Painting of the High Renaissance in Rome and Florence (New York: Hacker Art Books, 1985). Linda Murray, The High Renaissance and Mannerism: Italy, the North, and Spain, 1500–1600 (London: Thames and Hudson, 1977). Bastien Eclercy (ed.), Maniera: Pontormo, Bronzino and Medici Florence, exh. cat. (Munich, London, New York : Prestel, 2016). Michael Cole, Cellini and the Principles of Sculpture (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Franklin, Painting in Renaissance Florence, 1500–1550 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001). Henri Zerner, in : The Invention of Classicism (Paris: Flammarion, 2004). Thomas Da Costa Kaufmann, The School of Prague: Painting at the Court of Rudolf II (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1988). Wolfgang Lotz, Architecture in Italy, 1500-1600 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995).

Subject specific skills

• Understand the artistic, religious and social contexts in which the artists of the Northern and worked. • Compare and contrast the types of meanings which art works embodied. • Understand the role of patrons and audiences. • Employ sophisticated conceptual and visual analysis • Produce critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Transferable skills

• initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level • ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level • familiarity with essential ICT skills • ability to collaborate effectively with others • show understanding of diverse viewpoints • ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence • ability to formulate a sustained argument • think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level • Demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level

Study

Study time

Type Required Seminars 20 sessions of 2 hours (13%) External visits 1 session of 2 hours (1%) Private study 257 hours (86%) Assessment 1 hour (0%) Total 300 hours

Private study description

Required and recommended reading for seminar presentations, research for written assessments and revision for examinations.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

Assessment

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A

Weighting Study time Portfolio including both documentary evidence 50% and reflective writing Weighting Study time Collection of different items reflecting the students' engagement with the module and their learning development during the teaching term. May include pieces of formative assessment (in addition to the 3500-word components).

Slide test 20% 1 hour Image analysis exam.

Assessed essay 30% 1500-word essay.

Feedback on assessment

Written feedback and dedicated feedback tutorials.

Availability

Courses

This module is Core optional for:

• Year 2 of UHAA-V401 Undergraduate History of Art