Art: Renaissance to Current

Catalog description

This course provides an overview of art and architecture from the Renaissance to the contemporary period with a focus on art from Europe. The course will further consider global interactions involving this region. A survey of the major monuments, styles, artists and historical periods of painting, sculpture and architecture of Western Europe and America from early Renaissance to the contemporary period. Surveys the major monuments, styles, artists, and historical periods of painting, sculpture and architecture from this era. In addition to formal and technical analysis, the course explicitly examines artworks using a philosophical, historical, literary, aesthetic, religious and cultural lens. It invites students to interpret artworks in relation to contemporary texts, ritual contexts, religious beliefs, literary narratives, and political histories. The course encourages philosophic and aesthetic questioning (What is art? What counts as sacred vs. secular imagery?), comparative cultural analysis, and reflection on the social roles of art.