This course will discuss the historical interpretation of the artistic production of Germany and the Netherlands in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Educated elites responded quickly to the revival of humanist culture that accompanied the Renaissance in Italy, for the new learning was disseminated throughout Europe by means of the new vehicle of the printing press. The consequence was the development, not only of new artistic styles, but the introduction of a new spectrum of ideas into the iconographic repertoire of artistic reproduction. In addition, all classes were traumatized by the social and religious upheavals of the Reformation. Centuries of established ecclesiastical ritual along with many popular beliefs were challenged by the radical agenda of the reformers. The faith was robbed of many of the qualities that made it accessible and popular among ordinary people in order to enhance the religious authority of the educated. Aware of the ways in which the very possibility of historical interpretation has been questioned by poststructuralist theory, the course will try to articulate a concept of history that is viable and relevant to the historical moment in which we live. Recognizing that the present must always inform our view of the past, the course will try to make manifest the theoretical agendas of historical writing both in the past and the present. Grading will be based, in part, on one paper (approx. 15 pages).

Hour: MOXEY