FLORENCE AND THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE

OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Art History 121

Course Description:

Dynamic, imposing and highly creative, the Italian Renaissance is one of the great periods in art

history. Many of our modern ideas about art can be traced back to the genius of artists like

Brunelleschi, Leonardo and Michelangelo. They and countless others saw art as a priority where

the skill in execution was matched by the beauty of the final production. Patrons willingly paid

astonishing sums of money in pursuit of this artistic excellence. In many respects, it was a brave,

new world where reverence of the classical era was combined with an emphasis on the artist’s

inventive powers to produce an innovative realism which went far beyond the traditional realms

of the medieval craftsman.

Our studies will focus on the artistic achievements of Renaissance Florence and Venice.

Florence was undoubtedly the hot-bed of the new ideals, with plenty of demand by insatiable

patrons like the Medici and plenty of supply by artists like Donatello, Botticelli and Leonardo.

Brunelleschi’s re-interpretation of classical architecture and Michelangelo’s search for the ideal

will also be featured. Venice provides a delightful contrast, in that paintings by Bellini,

Giorgione and Titian or churches by Palladio are decidedly different from their Florentine

counterparts. To explain these differences, the social, political and theoretical context will be

explored through documents of the period.

No prior knowledge of art history is required for this introductory course. Our studies will be

supplemented by visits to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and the National Gallery,

London.

Instructor:

Dr.David Oldfield,,affiliated lecturer, Faculty of Architecture and History of Art,

Cambridge University.

Initial reading suggestions:

M. Baxandall Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy

R. Goldthwaith The Building of Renaissance Florence

H.Huse and W.Wolters The Art of Renaissance Venice: Architecture,

Sculpture and Painting 1460-1590