In Viaggio: Medioevo-Barocco

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary course focuses on the cultures of Medieval and Renaissance Italy and their enduring influence on contemporary Italian culture. As we examine the ways in which power and gender are reflected in cultural artifacts, we will study a variety of texts (including painting, sculpture, poetry and letters exchanged between friends and family members). These works allow us to trace the evolution of the concepts of sacred and profane love from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. At the center of our inquiry are two issues central to early modern Italy: the self-fashioning of the subject and the structures and practices of power. Weekly themes—patronage and propaganda, the family, love and marriage, and women’s roles in early modern society—will provide a frame for class discussion. Conducted in Italian.