❖Early Italian Renaissance Art to 1470❖ ❖Cathedrals, Courts, and Classicism❖ ❖ARH 331K/CTI 375/EUS 347 (Fall 2019)❖ Professor: Dr. Ann Johns Meeting place and time: MWF 1-1:50, DFA 2.204 Unique Numbers: 19585 (ARH 331K), 35535 (EUS 347), 28980 (CTI 375) Contact Information: [email protected], office 471-1936 (but I don’t check voice mail) Office Hours: DFA 2.520, MWF 11:30-1 and by appointment, mailbox DFA 2.526 ❖ Course Objectives: “I know two new/outstanding painters (novi pictores) ...Giotto, a Florentine citizen whose reputation is very great among the moderns (modernos), and Simone [Martini] of Siena.” --Francesco Petrarca, Rerum familiarium libri I-VIII, c. 1350 “[Donatello] showed such excellent qualities of grace and design that it was considered nearer what was done by the ancient Greeks and Romans than that of any other artist...” --Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 1568 In this course, we’ll trace the beginnings of the “rebirth” (Renaissance) of the visual arts in Italy c. 1300 (the era of Dante and the independent Italian city-states) to the heyday of Florence under the Medici and the renewed vibrancy of papal Rome in the later 15th century. We’ll begin with the seminal works of Nicola Pisano, Duccio, Arnolfo di Cambio, Cavallini, and Giotto, in the key cities of Pisa, Assisi, Siena, Florence, and Rome at the end of the 13th century. We’ll discuss the twin disasters of 14th century Italy: the devastating plague of 1348 and the retreat of the popes to Avignon, France (also known as the “Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy”). We’ll continue by exploring the work of Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, and other 15th century artists in the urban centers of central Italy. We’ll end c. 1470, with the Medici consolidation of power in Florence, the thriving, post-Avignon papacies of Nicholas V and Pius II, and the rise of the condottieri-led court cities of northern Italy. Throughout, we’ll analyze architecture and works of art both in formal terms and in relation to contemporary society, religion, philosophy, economics, and statecraft. We’ll examine the emerging status of the Renaissance artist, exemplified by the theorist, artist, architect, and courtier Leon Battista Alberti. Although this is an upper division course, there is no prerequisite. Nevertheless, you will be able to make more sense out of the material if you’ve had some art history, architectural history, Italian history, and/or European history. If you have concerns, please talk to me early in the course. It is my hope that this class will be a collaborative effort. I hope and expect to hear your impressions, insights, and questions about these extraordinary objects and structures. This means you should come to class having done the readings and prepared to talk! Ultimately, I hope to inspire you to see this extraordinary art in person. For more information on opportunities for study abroad, be sure to visit UT’s Study Abroad Office. Also, consider participating in the Department of Art and Art History’s Learning Tuscany Program. ❖ Visual and Performing Arts Credit (VAPA): This course may be used to fulfill the visual and performing arts component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork, and social responsibility. ❖ Global Cultures flag (GC): This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come 1 from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present. ❖ Required Readings: In order to receive a high grade, each student must read all the readings posted on the Course Canvas site; I HIGHLY recommend that you purchase the course packet of these readings, so that you can mark them up for class discussion and exam preparation. You can purchase these packets the first couple days of class. This is a much less expensive option than printing them yourselves. Students should also consider purchasing Stephen Campbell and Michael Cole’s Italian Renaissance Art (1st edition or volume I of the 2nd edition, available at the UT Coop). I will assign sections of this book, but it’s also a very well written and recent reassessment of the art of the period, and it will give you invaluable background information. ❖ Studying Strategies: I will provide you with study guides, useful websites, and other information throughout the semester. The study guides will list the specific images for which you will be responsible on the exams and quizzes. I will post all documents on Canvas. I strongly suggest that you begin organizing your notes (class and reading) and begin learning the images we cover throughout the semester. You WILL fail the exams and quizzes if you wait until the day before each exam and/or quiz. There is no way that you will be able to remember all this material unless you study the images as we learn about them. In this class, it is CRITICAL that you do the reading. The reading is not always “thrilling”, but it’s necessary for a fuller understanding of both the artistic background and the pertinent cultural forces. I will expect you to have digested the main points of reading for both class discussions and exams. Remember to read for the main points; don’t get bogged down by the myriad of small details that constitute a scholarly article or book, and do remember that older accounts may be harder to read. If you’re not sure about what constitutes a “small detail”, I highly encourage you post on the Discussion portion of Canvas. Of course, you can also email me, but the advantage to Canvas is that everyone in the class can see and/or join in on the conversation. I will post some suggestions on how to read critically, or how to improve your critical reading (and thinking!) skills. Here is something else: recently, studies have shown that students learn much better if they hand-write notes ( http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away; http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/ ). I do allow laptops for note-taking, if that is all you are doing, but do consider hand-writing notes. Your image reserves will be located on DASe, UT’s digital image data base (more below). Look at these images often; experience has proven that you CANNOT absorb these images in one (or 2 or 3) nights. Most of us need some time to accumulate our “image banks”, so start early. Make flash cards, or make your own powerpoint. Look at your book. Consult your notes. Look at the images on DASe (see below). Form study groups—this has proven to be very effective. Learning to look at art and architecture is a skill, just like learning a language or mastering calculus. We’ll discuss studying techniques in class throughout the semester. HOWEVER, if you use Quizlet, do NOT just copy each other’s notes! If someone wants to create the bare-bones Quizlet flashcards, that’s fine, but use your own notes. One, it is plagiarism to use someone else’s notes, and you will fail the test/quiz if we determine that you’ve copied notes. But two, how do you know if someone else’s notes are correct??!! I see the strangest things on exams because students are copying others and not thinking for themselves! For some of you, this material will all come easily; for others, it will be a struggle. Start your studies early on. There is a very high correlation between following these study strategies and receiving a good grade. Just fyi, this is not an easy class for freshmen who have never had art history. If you fall into that category, consider taking one of our excellent introductory classes. 2 Attendance is critical for this class, because we do not have a single textbook. Please review the attendance policies, below. ❖ Image Data Base (DASe) and Canvas: The images for which you will be responsible can be found on UT’s DASe data base: https://dase.laits.utexas.edu/. The images are divided into 2 collections, JOHNS Early Renaissance Parts I and II and JOHNS Early Renaissance Parts III and IV. There are corresponding study guides for each exam/quiz. Detailed instructions on how to access DASe are posted on the course Canvas site. You can download these images and use them for studying. You can also take notes directly onto the DASe data base. We will review the DASe site in class. I will also post lecture powerpoints on Canvas, shortly before class, and this has also proven to be a useful way to take notes. I guarantee that glancing at the powerpoint is no substitute for coming to class, as I include very little information on each image, other than title, artist, and date. Students have found these posted powerpoints useful for reviewing the information covered in each day’s class. ❖ Grading: Essay tests: You have 2 essay exams, each worth 15% of your grade (although you may substitute a research paper for the 2nd exam). In these exams, you will write about the some of the larger issues covered in class and in the reading. I will give you a list of possible essays the week before each test, to help you focus your studies and only the images on your STUDY GUIDES will be covered on the tests.