Late Medieval and Renaissance France: Art, Politics, and Power

Catalog description

This undergraduate seminar will examine the commission, production, and display of art at the Valois courts from the start of the Hundred Years War with England in the 1330s to the death of Francis I in 1547. During these two centuries, conflict and conquest shaped the making of artwork in profound and sometimes unexpected ways: precarious dynastic claims could be substantiated through carefully crafted images, while foreign artists (including Rosso Fiorentino, Francesco Primaticcio, and Leonardo da Vinci) could be called upon to boost the monarch’s prestige. Investigating the role played by objects in cultural diplomacy and propaganda, this course will examine works in a wide variety of techniques including easel painting, manuscript illumination, tapestry, armor, and metalwork, without neglecting less tangible art forms such as feasting, chivalric tournaments, and royal processions. Topics will include the art of the gift, female patronage, the interaction between text and image, and the role of artists in shaping a royal visual identity. The course will include a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and an illuminated manuscript handling session at the Free Library of Philadelphia.