production
Skip to Content

HA4095: RENAISSANCE ART IN FLORENCE AND ROME (2014-2015)

Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27


Course Overview

This course focuses on artistic production in the cities of Florence and Rome from c1400 to c1530. Moving from Early Renaissance, to High Renaissance, and concluding with Mannerism, it will include the work of artists such as Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo. Painting and sculpture during this period will be related to specific religious, political and social contexts. Seminars will analyse artists' works alongside major themes such as humanism, theology, antiquity, gender, sexuality and identity, while interrogating the traditional narrative of Italian Renaissance art by critiquing the idea that this period witnessed the birth of modern society and individualism.​

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Session First Sub Session Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Luke Uglow

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

None.

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Course Aims:

1. Analyse the main visual artists and art works produced in Florence and Rome in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
2. Understand the defining qualities of central Italian Renaissance art and its place within the principal political, social and religious contexts.
3. Respond critically and knowledgably to a formal presentation
4. Further develop and refine skills of inquiry, thought, translation and communication through the study of the History of Art

Main Learning Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate a contextualised understanding of the works of art produced by a range of painters and sculptors in Florence and Rome in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
2. Demonstrate wide knowledge of the social, economic and political conditions that influenced artistic production in these cities
3. Ability to reflect critically on the historiography of this period, evaluating the value of different methodological approaches including formalist, gender/sexuality, identity, social history of art and material culture
4. Informed by preliminary reading lead discussion and criticism of primary and secondary sources
5. Organise, deliver and discuss a seminar paper on an artist, image or genre, and act as a respondent to presentations.
6. Display knowledge and critical understanding of the course through the organisation of answers in a written exam
7. In relation to secondary literature, present a hypothesis and draw conclusions in examination answers which derive from the evidence presented
8. Identify, explain and evaluate selected images in a visual examination

Content:

This course focuses on artistic production in the cities of Florence and Rome from c1400 to c1530. Moving from Early Renaissance, to High Renaissance, and concluding with the beginnings of Mannerism, the course will discuss the work of some of the most famous Italian artists, including Ghiberti, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. Tracking the formal changes that can be seen in painting and sculpture during the period, students will relate these to specific religious, political and social contexts. Seminars will concentrate on specific artists, works or genres, and analyse these in relation to major themes such as humanism, theology, historiography, gender, sexuality, patronage, identity and self-fashioning. The course will to interrogate the traditional narrative of central Italian Renaissance art, and critique the idea that Florence and Rome in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries witnessed the birth of modern society and individualism.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt:
Student performance in this course is assessed by written examination, slide test, essay and class contribution
A 2 hour written examination (30%)
A 1 hour visual test (20%)
Two essays of 2500 words (40%)
Class Contribution based on seminar presentation (10%)

Resit:
Normally no re-sit available

Formative Assessment

Formative feedback takes place during the seminars. The questions addressed by the presentation will be discussed with the tutor during the seminars and will contain feedback.

Feedback

Via written tutor responses to coursework essays and presentations, and also less formally through tutor interaction with students through the duration of the course. Peer feedback takes place through the student presentation / respondent sessions, as also throughout the course in the seminar context.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

Compatibility Mode

We have detected that you are have compatibility mode enabled or are using an old version of Internet Explorer. You either need to switch off compatibility mode for this site or upgrade your browser.