HAA 0302 Renaissance Art

(offered once a year)

Transformations in the status, appearance, and meaning of artworks during the European Renaissance have profoundly affected Western visual culture. This course explores the extraordinary experiments of competitive, innovative artists and patrons, going beyond stylistic change to focus on the role of artistic invention in shaping Renaissance society. It considers the shifting functions of the visual arts in Europe between 1250 and 1600. Artists to be discussed include Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, van Eyck, Botticelli, Mantegna, Leonardo, Durer, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. Students will be asked to write short papers on thematic issues throughout the term and, at the end of the semester, they will undertake a more substantial project that engages the research methods of art history.