ARTH 232 The Visual Culture of Renaissance Rome (Not offered 2006-2007; to be offered 2007-2008)
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the city of Rome saw itself
transformed from a shrinking and neglected medieval town into a thriving center
of artistic achievement. This lecture course focuses on the historical, geographic,
and ideological forces behind this period of renovation and restoration forces
that reworked the urban fabric of the city while shaping the character of the
visual arts from Filarete and Fra Angelico to Bramante, Michelangelo, and
Raphael. We will examine monuments such as Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel,
then, not only as touchstones for the history of western art, but also as images
capable of reflecting, and even constructing, a uniquely Roman sense of power,
time, and historical destiny.
Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: midterm, final, and two papers.
Prerequisites: ArtH 101-102. Enrollment limit: 40. Open to Art majors as well
as non-majors.
Satisfies the pre-1800 requirement.