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ARTH 433 Mundus alter: The Arts in Renaissance Venice

To its modern-day visitors the city of Venice seems a world apart, yet a belief in Venice's singularity is nothing new. The fourteenth-century Tuscan poet, Petrarch, referred to the island as mundus alter, or another world, and Venetians themselves have long been cultivating a sense of "otherness." Distinguished by its great wealth and piety, stable government, diversity of peoples, and unique geographical situation (a city of canals that served as the European gateway to the Holy Land and Byzantium), Renaissance Venice experienced this period of artistic renewal in ways different from other Italian centers. This seminar will examine the art produced in Venice during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with an underlying focus on the concept of Venezianita, or "Venetian-ness," that shaped the myth in which the city wrapped itself. Format: seminar. Requirements will include class discussion, presentations, and a 15- to 20-page research paper. Prerequisite: ArtH 101-102. Enrollment limit: 12 (expected: 12). Open to juniors, seniors and graduate students.

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