Università Roma Tre

Painting and Sculpture in Italy from c. 1401 to 1519 (6 CFU).

The course is intended for students of the Three-year degree and aims to offer the outlines of the development of Italian art history from the beginning of the 15th century to the death of Leonardo da Vinci, through the analysis of the work of the main artists active in Italy in these centuries, and of the pictorial languages to which they gave life. Before attending the course it may be useful to have taken the History of Medieval Art exam.
The study method will privilege the historical and stylistic reading of the art object, a visual knowledge of the works of the individual artists is therefore essential.
The course includes some introductory lectures on the methodology of the study of art history and on some general topics (e.g. the periodization of art history, the use of historical-critical categories such as the concept of Renaissance and Baroque related to style, and so on).
The course also includes in-depth examinations of the career of individual artists and the fundamental stylistic junctures in art history in the period under examination. Each year these insights may vary.
In order to follow the course and to prepare for the examination, the recommended textbook may be read and studied. It is, however, only to be considered as a first approach to the topics covered in the course, during which a specific bibliography on the individual topics will be offered. The textbook should be supplemented with knowledge of the works of the individual artists for which a bibliography will be provided during the lessons; these can also be viewed on the websites that will be indicated (in particular www.wga.hu). The video-taped lectures will only be available for one week on the Teams platform (Team History of Modern Art 2022-2023) where the slides will also be uploaded. Even more important is the direct contact with the work and the monument: the course will include Roman monuments whose visit is obligatory before taking the examination. In the middle and at the end of the course, those attending will have the opportunity to take a written exemption that will be considered as part of the final examination. Non-attending students are not required to study additional texts, but knowledge of the topics covered during the course is compulsory and it is therefore essential to obtain the slides that will be available on the Microsoft Teams platform, Team History of Modern Art 2022-2023.
Those taking the 6 CFU exam (history students, for example) may bring the syllabus for the exam from c. 1400 to c. 1519 and read one of the recommended texts included in the bibliography.

1) Suggested manual:

S. Settis – T. Montanari, Arte. Una storia naturale e civile. Dal Quattrocento alla Controriforma (vol. 3), Mondadori Editore
https://www.libreriauniversitaria.it/arte-storia-naturale-civile-licei/libro/9788828616450


2) One of the following tests is also requested:
1. M. Baxandall, Pittura ed esperienze sociali nell’Italia del Quattrocento, Torino, Einaudi 1978.

2. A. De Marchi, La pala d’altare. Dal polittico alla pala quadra, Firenze, Art & libri, 2012.

3. A. Pinelli, La bella maniera. Artisti del Cinquecento tra regola e licenza, Torino, Einaudi 2003.

4. E. Panofsky, Studi di iconologia. I temi umanistici nell’arte del Rinascimento, ed. italiana Torino, Einaudi 2009.

5. F. Zeri, Pittura e controriforma. L’arte senza tempo di Scipione da Gaeta, ed. originale, Torino, Einaudi 1957 (ristampa Neri Pozza 1997).

6. F. Haskell, Mecenati e pittori. Studio sui rapporti tra arte e società italiana nell’età barocca, Torino, Einaudi 2020 (ed. originale Firenze, Sansoni, 1966).

7. T. Montanari, Il Barocco, Torino, Einaudi 2012.

8. F. Haskell – N. Penny, L’antico nella storia del gusto: La seduzione della scultura classica 1500-1900, Torino 1984.