Renaissance Art

Catalog description

An introduction to Renaissance and baroque art and architecture, 1400–1750. The course situates major developments in the arts against the context of historical, cultural, religious, technological, and social change. Topics include the emergence of humanism and its engagement with the ancient past; the development of transformative new techniques and technologies for making art; the function of art in religious, public, and domestic settings; the role of the patron; the impact of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations on art and society; the ever-expanding range of iconography; and the proliferation of new genres. Emphasis is placed on the great masters in each phase, and close study of works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection is an integral part of the course.