Course Description
Particular topics in Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture treated in depth.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be expected to produce an extensive
research paper on specific works or issues related to the field
and the methodologies appropriate to the topic under
consideration in the course. This paper will be a detailed,
in-depth consideration of the student's chosen theme requiring
not only a demonstration of advanced research skills (including
the ability to read and use material presented in foreign
languages), but also an articulation of the student's ability to
understand and manipulate the critical apparatus of art history.
Athena Title
Topics Renaissance Baroque Art
Prerequisite
Two ARHI 3000-level courses and permission of major
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course explores specific aspects of the art and architecture created during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. For instance the course might focus on the patronage of Empress Catherine II (1764-1796). The empress commissioned numerous works of art and architecture, which she regarded as manifestations of her own enlightened rule. These monuments expressed the spirit of the era since their design and visual programs were informed by the ideas of some of the most prominent intellectuals of Europe who regarded Catherine the Great as their patroness and friend. In addition, the empress's creations reflected her own intellectual pursuits as a scholar, a writer, as well as an art collector and connoisseur. Asserting the place of her people on the map of what she viewed as the World of the Enlightenment, Catherine the great created a unique vision of the past merging the history and culture of the medieval Russian state with classical antiquity and Byzantium. Students will be tested two times in the course of the semester and submit a research paper. Shorter assignments might be required such as a critical analysis of a scholarly work.
Topical Outline
I. Introduction: Russia and the Russians. II. Slavic Language Culture Between Byzantium, Asia and the West. III. Holy Moscow: The Orthodox Empire of the Third Rome. IV. The Petrine Revolution in Russian Imagery. V. Catherine the Great's Triumphs Played out in Sculpture, Architecture and Words. VI. Politics and Pleasure: Tsarskoe Selo. VII. Between Versailles and Constantinople: The Kekereksenskii Palace. VIII. Collecting Art and Antiquities: Catherine the Great and Count Aleksander Sergeevich Stroganoff. IX. Imperial Portraits, Icon and Caricature. X. Architecture: Neoclassical Style, Neo-Gothic Buildings, Landscape Design. XI. Monuments: The Brazen Horseman of St. Peterburg. XII. Dining with the Empress: The Orlov Tea Service, The Cameo Service, Services for the Orders of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Vladimir. XIII. England Seen Through the Eyes of the Empress: The Green Frog Service. XIV. Russia Seen Through the Eyes of the French: The Drawings of Jean- Baptist Le Prince and the response of Catherine the Great. XV. Catherine the Great and Voltaire.
Syllabus