Renaissance Art in Florence and Venice

Subject AHIS20011 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 2 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

On Campus

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 2.5 A 1-hour lecture and a 1.5-hour tutorial per week
Total Time Commitment: 102
Prerequisites: Completion of 12.5 pts of first year Art History or first year European Studies or one of the Faculty of Arts' Interdisciplinary Foundation (IDF) subjects
Corequisites: N/A
Recommended Background Knowledge: N/A
Non Allowed Subjects: 107-242 Renaissance Art 1: Donatello to Leonardo; 673-357 Renaissance Art 1: Donatello to Leonardo; 107-243 Renaissance Art 2: Giorgione to Mechelan; 673-358 Renaissance Art 2: Giorgione to Michelan
Core Participation Requirements: For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the 3Disability Liaison Unit website: 4http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Coordinator

Prof Jaynie Anderson

Contact

Jaynie Anderson
email: jaynie@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

The subject focuses in depth on the art and culture of Renaissance Italy, from 1300 to 1570. In part we will examine the lives and works of some of the most significant artists in that period from Giotto, Masaccio, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Raphael, Titian and Michelangelo, in relation to the artistic theories of the period and the models they set for later artistic futures. The subject will explore the critical interpretations of works of art, spectatorship, patronage, the place of art in daily life in Renaissance Italy, the scientific analysis of works of art, restoration history and workshop practice.
Objectives: Students who complete this subject will
  • have an understanding of the contexts in which the art of the period was produced;
  • have a broad understanding of the technical and stylistic achievements of the major practitioners of the Italian Renaissance;
  • have developed critical and analytical skills appropriate to the study of the art of this period.
Assessment: A seminar report of 1500 words 40% (due a week after presentation in class), and a take-home examination of 2500 words 60% (due in the examination period). Note: Assessment submitted late without an approved formal extension will be penalised at 2% per day. Students who fail to submit up to 2-weeks after the final due date without a formal extension and special consideration will receive a fail grade for the piece of assessment.
Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.
Recommended Texts:
  • Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting and On Sculpture: The Latin Texts of De Pictura and De Statua translated by Cecil Grayson, London, 1972.
  • Paul Barolsky, Why Mona Lisa smiles and other Tales by Vasari, Pennsylvania, 1991.
  • Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy: a primer in the social history of pictorial style, Oxford, 1972.
  • Jill Dunkerton and others, Giotto to Durer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery: Early European Painting in the National Gallery of London, Yale University Press, 1991.
  • Michelle O’Malley, The Business of Art. Contracts and Commissioning Process in the Renaissance, New Haven, 2005.
  • C.M. Richardson, K.W.Woods & M. Franklin, Renaissance Art Reconsidered: An Anthology of Primary Sources, Blackwells.
  • John Shearman, Only Connect: Art and the Spectator in the Italian Renaissance, Princeton, 1992.
  • Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists. translated with an introduction and notes by Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella., Oxford 1991.
  • Evelyn Welch, Shopping in the Renaissance. Consumer Cultures in Italy. New Haven, 2005.
  • Evelyn Welch, Art in Renaissance Italy, 1350-1500 Oxford University Press
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: Students who successfully complete this subject will:
  • be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays;
  • be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;
  • be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;
  • be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision;
  • be able to participate in team work through involvement in syndicate groups and group discussions.
Notes: Formerly available as 107-242 and 673-357 Renaissance Art 1: Donatello to Leonardo and 107-243 and 673-358 Renaissance Art 2: Giorgione to Michelan. Students who have completed either of these subjects are not able to enrol in this subject
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Art History
Art History
Art History
Art History Major

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