Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

This course will explore the development of art and architecture in Italy from the late Middle Ages through the High Renaissance. Through an in-depth analysis of the art, architecture and history of these periods, we shall develop an understanding of Italy’s role in the overall development of Western civilization. Particular emphasis will be given to those Italian cities that exhibit particularly well-integrated conceptions of painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Course Objectives:
• To learn to appreciate the rich and influential aspects of Italian Renaissance art and architecture.
• To bring a historical period to life through a “hands on” approach to the monuments and works produced during this specific period known as the Renaissance
• To develop the fundamental skills of art historical analysis that include formal analysis and iconographic interpretation
• To develop an ability to interact in a personal and intimate manner with works of art and their surroundings

Optional Textbook:
- John T. Paoletti and Gary M. Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy, 4th Edition. All readings should be done in advance of each week’s class.

• PART 1 – FRANCISCAN ART AND PHILOSOPHY

The first lecture examines the history, architecture and decoration of great shrine to St. Francis in Assisi that was decorated by a veritable all-star team of late-13th/early-14th-century artists such as Cimabue, Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti and perhaps even Giotto.
The second lecture examines the church of Santa Croce in Florence, the largest Franciscan church in the world. Most famous for its celebrity tombs, including the likes of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli, this Gothic church also contains one of the most important Medieval fresco cycles by the great master Giotto and his followers.

Lecture 1 - Franciscan Philosophy and the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi

Lecture 2 - The Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence

Readings: “Introduction”, “The Origins of the Renaissance”, pgs. 48-55; “Assisi and Padua: Narrative Realism”, pgs. 67-71; “Mendicant Churches”, pgs. 82-94

• PART 2 - ART IN ARCHITECTURE IN MEDIEVAL SIENA, CITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY

In the first half of the 14th century, the city of Siena was Florence’s main political, economic and artistic rival. Artists such as Duccio, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti were members of one of Europe’s most important school of painting. This lecture will examine the religious art and architecture in Siena in order to understand the city’s unique beauty and rivalry with Florence. We shall discuss the striking Gothic cathedral of Siena and examine the various artistic works which adorned it.
The second lecture this week examines the civic architecture of Siena as embodied in the city’s most important civic structure – the Palazzo Pubblico. This late 13th-century building still serves as Siena’s town hall and preserves some of the most important murals of the 14th Century. Through an in-depth analysis of these murals, beginning with Simone Martini’s Maestà in the former room of the “Great Council” and then the Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the “Room of the Nine”- Siena’s medieval Oval Office – we will come to understand that the governing principles of an effective democracy transcend time.

Lecture 3 - Religious Art and Architecture in Siena

Lecture 4 - Civic Art in Architecture in Siena

Readings: “Siena: City of the Virgin”, pgs. 99-121

• WEEK 3 - THE DAWN OF RENAISSANCE PAINTING: GIOTTO AND THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL, PADUA

Giotto’s 14th-century fresco cycle in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, is perhaps the seminal motion picture in Western Art. The artist transformed the iconic, sacred subjects of his contemporary painting world into a very human story- or what I like to call the “visual vernacular”. This lecture will examine a surprisingly modern aspect of Giotto’s work, that is the cinematic quality. To put it simply, the paintings in the chapel read like a motion picture or a film, in which humanity is the star. Giotto’s mise en scène is full of expressive character types, landscapes, colour and visual arrangements. The sequential arrangement and juxtaposition of scenes, instead, produce a visual narrative of which most modern film directors would be envious. In a purely visual medium, Giotto is able to evoke sounds and smells, emotions and expectations, humor and terror.

Lecture 5 – The Paintings of the Scrovegni Chapel Part I

Lecture 6 – The Paintings of the Scrovegni Chapel Part II

Readings: “Padua: The Scrovegni Chapel”, pgs. 71-76

• PART 4 - MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN FLORENCE

The Uffizi Gallery houses the world’s most important collection of medieval and Renaissance Italian paintings, with major works by artists such as Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Fra Lippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio. This lecture will examine the evolution of painting during from the early-14th to the mid-17th centuries as reflected in the paintings housed in this great museum.

Lecture 7 – Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Part I

Lecture 8 – Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Part II

Readings: “The Strozzi Chapel at Santa Trinita”, pgs. 224- 226; “Altarpieces at Mid- Century”, pgs. 233- 236;“The Devotional Image”, pgs. 272-275; “Classical Antiquity and the Golden Age”, pgs. 281- 285; Chapter 18 –“Florence: Mannerism and the Medici”, pgs. 424-438.

• PART 5 - RENAISSANCE PAINTING IN VENICE

Venice was the longest lasting Republic in history. The city’s privileged position as cultural and economic bridge between the Eastern and Western Christian world contribute to the uniqueness of Venice. The art and architecture in Venice clearly display this combination of Islamic, Byzantine, and Classical influences. Artists such as Bellini, Giorgione, Titian and Tintoretto would make Venetian painting perhaps the only school to rival that of the Central Italian Renaissance. We will not only examine the buildings and paintings of Venice, but also the history of perhaps the most singular city in the world.

Lecture 9 – Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Carpaccio, Giorgione

Lecture 10 – Titian, Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese

Readings: Chap. 7- “Venice: The Most Serene Republic”, pgs. 136-152; Chap. 13- “Venice: Affirming Past and Present”, pgs. 311-332; Chap. 20 - “Venice: Vision and Monumentality”, pgs. 451-487.

• PART 6 - THE RE-BIRTH OF ROME UNDER POPE JULIUS II

When Giuliano Della Rovere was elected Pope in 1503, he took the name of the great Roman dictator Julius Caesar. This gesture was perfectly in tune with the new Pope’s desire to restore ancient imperial glory to the city of Rome by calling all the great artists of Europe to rebuild the city - including Bramante, Raphael and Michelangelo. This lecture will examine the artistic legacy of the Pope who has been defined as the most fortunate patron in history in having such an extraordinary stable of artists working for him in early 16th-century Rome.

Lecture 11 – The Basilica of St. Peter, The Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms Part I

Lecture 12 – The Basilica of St. Peter, The Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms Part II

Readings: The Imperial Style under Julius II”, pgs. 397- 418; Readings: “Raphael and Michelangelo”, pgs. 422- 423; “Private Patrons”, pgs. 393- 395

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