ART 380-01, Renaissance Art, Monty Helm

Spring 2004,Art Department, Brescia University

I. Art380-01, Renaissance Art, MWF 10:00-10:50, Room 111A

II. Monty Helm, Art Department, Brescia University. 270 683-8256 or monty@montyhelm.com
Office Hours: MW 1 to 2 p.m. 311A

III. Prerequisites: Art 180, 281 or permission of instructor.

VI. Required Text: Hartt, Frederick. The History of Italian Renaissance Art: painting, sculpture, and architecture. NY: H. N. Abrams, 1994.

V. General Education Requirements: (course fulfills General Education Requirements)

Value outcomes: Art History courses in relation to value outcomes allow the student to critically examine aspects of cultural diversity through the visual arts. Works of art provide students with a common ground to discuss and interpret intellectual concepts reflected by the society in focus. This mirror of the given culture is presented by the artist - an individual motivated by a variety of reasons: self-expression, intellect, financial gain, or simply in search of understanding.

Knowledge outcomes: In regard to knowledge outcome, students will expand their sensitivity in the arts through in depth studies and examinations of specific works. Students will discern the contributing factors (individuals, events, political and religious thought, and cultural influences) and how these elements contribute to the development of artistic theme and style

Skill outcomes: Students will exercise skills in logic, creative and philosophical thought, and critical analysis to achieve understanding in the arts. These skills will be demonstrated verbally and literally as they interpret classroom and individual research experiences in the form of writing and presentation. Student's research skills in library science will be realized as a key to success. These skills will lead students to obtain information necessary for critical analysis, both in their research assignments, classroom discussion, and presentations. Students will employ the use of the Internet to visit distant cites - through this source they will experience directly, information from museums and collections holding masterworks of art. Students will develop analytical skills in an environment that promotes discussion and diversity of thought. The success factors mentioned in this statement will be reflected in the participation of the student in the classroom, the assigned research, readings, and writings.

VI. The course is an upper division art history. Art majors: fulfills 3 credit hours of the upper division art history requirement. Non majors: fulfills 3 credit hours of the required Fine Arts electives.

VII. Departmental and University-Wide Curriculum.
The course strengthens the curriculum in the art department by offering the students specialized study in art history and offers the students of the Brescia community an opportunity to examine one of the most celebrated periods in the history of art. The characteristics of this art movement are defined by creative thought and scientific theory - a combination not always realized- but resulting in an area of study that is understood on various level, crossing the curriculum from art to science.

VIII. Course Description and Objectives: The course, Renaissance Art, is an examination of the classical revival that occurred in the art of Western Europe between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Students will discern the significance of the city-states of northern Italy along with the papal influences of Rome, and how they promoted and stimulated an overall atmosphere for creativity in the arts. In addition, students will draw comparisons to the unique innovations in the arts of Northern Europe. Through critical analysis students develop an understanding of the artworks, artists, and the period covering the early classical tendencies of the Dugento up until the beginning of the Mannerist Period.

Course Outline:

1. Late Medieval Period.

a. Feudal Europe.
b. The artists: styles and influences leading into the Early Renaissance Period.
c. The guild system in Western Europe.
d. The patrons of the Renaissance. The development of the City-States and the influence of major families as patrons of the arts.
e. Pisano's sculpture and Late Medieval painting.

2. The Quattrocento.

a. The early sculptures of Ghiberti and Donatello.
b. Painting in Florence and the innovations of Masaccio.
c. Gothic tendencies in architecture.
d. Fra Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico.
e. The theories of Alberti.
f. Piero Della Francesca and perfection in perspective.
g. Bellini to Mantegna, painting in northern Italy.
h. The embracing of the Renaissance style in the late Quattrocento and the emergence of Botticelli.

3. The Northern Renaissance. Contrasts and comparisons to the innovations occurring in Northern Europe.

a. The painting of Jan Van Eyck, Rogier Van Der Weyden, and the Master of Flemalle.
b. Claus Slutter.
c. Bruegel, Bosch, and Grunewald.
d. Durer.

4. Cinquencento. An in depth examination of the artists of the High Renaissance.

a. Leonardo da Vince. (Drawing & Journals, Frescos, and Paintings)
b. Michelangelo. (David, Pieta, Medici Tombs, Sistene, and St. Peters)
c. Raphael. ( Vatican Murals, Madonnas, and the Portraits)
d. Palladio, Brunelleschi, and Donatello.
e. Titian.
f. Giorgione.

IX. The Principal instruction technique will be conducted through slide lectures, presentations, and open class discussion.

X. Required Work and Assignments:

4 exams 72%
Research Paper (6 pg.) and presentation 28%

Exams will be in the form of essays and identify major attributes and contributions of Renaissance artists.

Attendance and promptness: Four absences will merit a drop in letter grade. Six absences merit a two-letter grade drop. Beyond 6 will result in a failing grade.

Academic Dishonesty: Acts of academic dishonesty merit a failing grade in the course and will be reported to the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts.

Reading Assignment to be announced

XI. Assignment/ Exam Value:

Grade Scale: 100-90 A, 89-80 B, 79-70 C, 69-60 D, 59 - below F