
Art and the City in Renaissance Italy 
 ARH
364/EUS 347/ITC 349/WCV 320 (Spring 2010) 
Professor: Dr. Ann Johns
Meeting place and time: MWF 12:00-12:50, ART 1.110
Unique Numbers: 20200 (ARH), 36165 (EUS), 37185 (ITC), 48216 (WCV)
Contact Information: acjohns@mail.utexas.edu, Phone number TBA
Office Hours: ART 3.316, MW 1-2 and by appointment
 Course Objectives:
“The world is made up of earth, air, fire and water—but there is another element—the Florentines.”
--Pope Boniface VIII, c. 1300
“Was there ever so vain a people as the Sienese?”
--Dante, the Inferno, Canto XXIX, 121-122, c. 1308
“In my opinion, if the Earthly Paradise where Adam dwelt with Eve were like Venice, Eve would have had a
hard time to tempt him out of it with any fig.”
--Pietro Aretino, 1492-1556
Florence, Siena, Venice: the cultural landscape of Late Medieval and Early Renaissance
Italy is dominated by a series of cities so unique and rich in artistic treasures that any one example
is worthy of a whole course of study. We begin, as a class, with the most famous and paradigmatic
of these cities, Florence. We will explore the development of art and architecture in a number of
settings: civic, ecclesiastic, monastic, palatial, and private. This encompasses such grand projects as
Brunelleschi’s dome for the Cathedral as well as private, secular decoration in the Davanzati Palace.
We will also examine two other important and very different city-states, Siena and Venice; each of
these cities is distinguished by its own style of painting and architecture.
Students will then work together in small groups on some of the lesser-known city-states,
such as Padua, Mantua, or Urbino. In the final classes, students will give group reports to the class
regarding their findings about these smaller city-states. In each case, we observe the unique art and
architecture that distinguishes the communities; in the process, we will also discover some of the
cultural and social commonalities of art in the Italian city-states during the Renaissance. The period
of time we will cover will be (approximately) the years between 1300 and 1500, and our geographic
focus will be the city-states north of Rome (southern Italy was, and remains, a much more feudal
society).
There is no prerequisite, but you will be able to make more sense out of the material if
you’ve had some art history, architectural history, Italian history, and/or European history of the
era. If you have concerns, please contact me early in the course. It is my hope that this class will be
a collaborative effort. Throughout the course, I hope and expect to hear your impressions, insights,
and questions about these extraordinary objects and structures. This means you should come to class
having done the readings and prepared to talk!
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Ultimately, I hope to inspire you to visit these extraordinary cities, either for the first time or
for a repeat, but more informed, encounter. Many of you have already traveled to Italy or elsewhere
on a study abroad program or on your own. For more information on opportunities for study abroad,
be sure to visit UT’s Study Abroad Office [SAO] at www.utexas.edu/student/abroad.
 Required Readings:
Our required textbooks are Gene Brucker’s classic study, Renaissance Florence, as well as
Patricia Fortini Brown’s Art and Life in Renaissance Venice. In addition, there will be a number of
other required readings posted on Blackboard. You will be responsible for all class and reading
material on exams; I will also expect you to be cognizant of the main points of each reading for
classroom discussion.
I would also suggest that you purchase (older editions are fine and are often found at Half
Price Books or online) any textbook on Italian Renaissance Art, just to have as a reference guide.
Perhaps the best is Paoletti and Radke’s Art in Renaissance Italy, but there are other good textbooks
(Hartt and Wilkins, History of Italian Renaissance Art, Laurie Schneider Adams, Italian
Renaissance Art, etc.).
 Studying Strategies:
I will be handing out study guides, city maps, and plans throughout the semester. The study
guides will list the specific images for which you will be responsible on the test. (Almost) all
handouts will be posted on Blackboard. I strongly suggest that you begin organizing your notes
(class and reading) and begin learning the images we cover throughout the semester, and not wait
until the day before each exam. There is no way that you will be able to remember all of this
material unless you study the images as we learn about them.
In this class, it is important that you do the reading. The reading is not always “thrilling”,
but it’s necessary for a fuller understanding of how these cities and their art were created. I will
expect you to have digested the main points of reading for both class discussions and exams.
Remember to read for the main points; don’t get bogged down by the myriad of small details that
constitute a scholarly article or book.
All your digital image reserves will be located on DASe, UT’s digital image data base (more
below). Look at these images often; experience has proven that you CANNOT absorb all of these
images in one (or 2 or 3) nights. Most of us need some time to accumulate our “image banks”, so
start early. Make flash cards. Look at your book. Consult your notes. Look at the images on DASe
(see below). Create your own image data base on DASe (I’ll show you how in class). Form study
groups. Learning to look at art and architecture is a skill, just like learning a language or mastering
calculus. For some of you, this material will all come easily; for others, it will be a struggle. Start
your studies early on. There is a very high correlation between following these study strategies and
receiving a good grade. I will be giving you extra credit opportunities to go along with the two
exams.
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 Image Data Base (DASe) and Blackboard:
The images for which you will be responsible can be found on UT’s DASe data base:
https://dase.laits.utexas.edu/. The images are divided into 3 collections, one for each of the principal
cities we will study: Florence, Siena, Venice. Detailed instructions are posted on the course
Blackboard site. You can download these images and use them for studying. You can also take
notes directly onto the DASe data base. We will review the DASe site in class. If a key image is not
included on the DASE data base, I will post it as a powerpoint onto Blackboard.
I have also posted a collection of city maps (JOHNS Art and the City Italian Renaissance:
City maps; you can find this through Blackboard, too). You will need to learn to use maps (not
something everyone knows how to do, in this age of GPS) for this course; they are essential to our
understanding of how these cities formed and grew.
I will also post lecture powerpoints on Blackboard. This will not help you if you’ve missed
class, but students have found these useful to review the information covered in a given day’s class.
 Grading:
There will be two exams in this course (Exam I=25%, Exam II=25%). Each exam will
consist of 2 parts: a take-home essay and an in-class exam in which you will answer shorter
questions pertaining to specific images. Only the images on your KEY IMAGE lists will be covered
on the tests. There will be opportunities for extra credit for each of the exams (annotated maps, but
more on that later).
The exams will not stress simple identification, and therefore you will not have to memorize
vast amounts of material (although some memorization will be necessary). Instead, the exams will
be an opportunity for you to synthesize the material and demonstrate your grasp of the overall
concepts. You will be allowed one 3”x5” index card (both sides, and no larger than 3”x5” unless
you wish to have points deducted!), handwritten, that you can use on the exams. These cards will
be collected (and returned) with your exams. I do this to reduce exam anxiety, but I also want you to
focus on the larger issues and not sweat the spelling of long Italian names. I will hand out a practice
test closer to the first exam. THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS.
You will also have one short assignment on urbanism in your home town (3%) and 3
reading responses (4% each).
In addition to the 2 exams, you will be working on a group project toward the end of the
semester. You will work in small groups on an individual Italian city-state of your choosing (from a
list posted on the syllabus). The final project will consist of a powerpoint presentation to the class
(15% of your grade) and an annotated bibliography and website guide (10%). This project will be
worth a total of 25% of your grade.
In addition, you will keep a journal in which you record notes and observations made during
your classmates’ presentations. This journal will be worth 10% of your grade.
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I will give you more information on each of these assignments later in the semester.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE MARKED DOWN **ONE** GRADE A DAY, AND
THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM.
Please note that as of Fall Semester 2009, UT will now use the +/- system of grading, which
is as follows:
A (4.00) = 94-100; A- (3.67) = 90-93; B+ (3.33) = 87-89; B (3.00) = 84-86; B- (2.67) = 80-83;
C+ (2.33) = 77-79; C (2.00) = 74-76; C- (1.67) = 70-73; D+ (1.33) = 67-69; D (1.00) = 64-66;
D- (0.67) = 60-63; F (0.00) = 0-59
 Attendance:
I do not take attendance unless I find that attendance is becoming an issue. It is virtually
impossible to get an “A” or “B” in this class unless you attend quite faithfully, as we do not use a
single textbook. On the other hand, if you attend, participate, do the readings and assignments, and
study for the exams, you should quite easily earn an “A” or “B”. Important religious holidays,
serious illnesses, or true family crises are, of course, perfectly valid reasons for missing class.
Once we begin the group reports towards the end of the semester, I will pass around an
attendance sheet. You may not miss more than one of these classes without a very valid reason.
Also, part of your grade for this section will be based on a journal that you’ll keep based on your
peers’ presentations. It is extremely important for you to attend these presentations and ask
intelligent questions of your colleagues. We will review this policy later in the semester.
 Academic Honesty:
Any type of cheating, plagiarism, collusion (except group projects, of course), etc., is
grounds for an immediate “F” in the course, and often expulsion from the University. Besides
being, ultimately, harmful to the student who cheats, it is extremely unfair to fellow students, and
time-consuming and disheartening for the professor. It is absurdly easy to determine whether a
student has plagiarized all or some of a paper, thanks to Google. I attempt to create courses in which
students neither want to nor can cheat.
 Learning Differences and Disabilities:
The University of Texas at Austin provides, upon request, appropriate academic
accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of
the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY. Please inform me privately, well in advance of
any exam, if you have the official University paperwork, and I will accommodate your special
needs.
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LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE MARKED DOWN **ONE**
GRADE A DAY, AND THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS.
ALSO, THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM!!!!!!
 RECAP 
Exam I: 25%; Exam II: 25%; (half of each exam is a take-home essay)
(extra credit can add up to 5 points to your exam score for each test)
Group project: 25% (15% powerpoint presentation, 10% annotated bibliography and
website guide)
Short Assignment (3%), Reading Responses (3 x 4%), Presentation Journal (10%)
NO FINAL EXAM!!!
 CALENDAR OF UNITS, ASSIGNMENTS, AND EXAMS 
(Subject to Change)
(Reading Assignments due the day they are listed)
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Assignment handed out
Assignment due
Take-home essays, project reports due
In-class exams
January 20 (W):
Review of the Syllabus
January 22 (F):
Introduction to the geography, history and art of Italy
Reading: Umberto Eco, “Many Italies”, 8-13; Baxandall, Painting and
Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, 1-27. Begin Brucker, Renaissance
Florence (finish by February 12)
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→ Assignments #1 (Urbanism of your home town) and
#2 (Response to Brucker reading) handed out
January 25 (M):
 Florence 
The Origins of Cities, the Origins of Florence, and the Notion of “Civic”
Reading: Brucker; Benton, “The three cities compared,” in Siena, Florence
and Padua, II, 6-9, 23-27.
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January 27 (W):
Art of the State: Government, Ideology, and Civic Architecture
Reading: Brucker; Cunningham, “For the honour and beauty of the city: the
design of town halls,” in Siena, Florence and Padua, II, 28-33, 42-49. * *
*
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*
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*
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→ Group Project Assignment handed out
January 29 (F):
Civic Religion: Florence’s Baptistery, “il bel San Giovanni”
Reading: Brucker; Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti, 44-49; Moskowitz, Italian
Gothic Sculpture, 131-137.
*Assignment #1 due*
February 1 (M):
Construction at Florence’s Duomo: from Sta. Reparata to S.M. del Fiore
Reading: Brucker; King, Brunelleschi’s Dome, 1-11, 100-107.
February 3 (W):
“Speaking Statues”: Sculptural Programs at Florence’s Duomo
Reading: Brucker; Moskowitz, Italian Gothic Sculpture, 63-66; PopeHennessy, Italian Renaissance Sculpture, 1-15.
February 5 (F):
“Speaking Statues”: Sculptural Programs at Florence’s Campanile
Reading: Brucker; Moskowitz, Italian Gothic Sculpture, 137-142; Norman,
“The art of knowledge,” (read the sections on the campanile reliefs), in Siena,
Florence and Padua, II, 216-241.
February 8 (M):
Florence’s Orsanmichele: Granary, Shrine, Guilds
Reading: Brucker; Moskowitz, Italian Gothic Sculpture, 161-169; Turner,
Renaissance Florence, 50-67.
February 10 (W):
Santa Croce: Florence, the Friars, and the Faithful
Reading: Brucker; Goffen, Spirituality in Conflict, 1-11.
→ Take-home essay handed out*
February 12 (F):
S.M. Novella: Dominican and Lay Patronage
Reading: Brucker; Norman, “The art of knowledge,” (read the sections on the
chapter-house murals), in Siena, Florence and Padua, II, 216-241.
*Assignment #2 Due*
February 15 (M):
Private Palaces: the palazzi of the Davanzati and the Medici
Reading: Kent, Cosimo de’ Medici, 228-238; Turner, Renaissance Florence,
122-141.
*1st Preliminary report due (group members, city, preferred date)*
February 17 (W):
Laura Schwartz, Fine Arts Librarian
Finding library resources for your group projects
February 19 (F):
Case Study: Patronage at Santa Trìnita, 1280-1485
Reading: Ahl, Fra Angelico, 81-87; Turner, Renaissance Florence,
146-150.
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February 22 (M):
Case Study: Medici patronage at San Lorenzo and San Marco
Reading: Kent, Cosimo de’ Medici, 149-159.
February 24 (W):
Catch-up and Review of Florence
**Take-home essay due in class**
February 26 (F):
***EXAM I***
March 1 (M):
 Siena 
comunis senarum civitas virginis: Siena, city of the Virgin
Reading: Norman, Painting in Late Medieval and Renaissance Siena, 1-39;
Benton, “The three cities compared,” in Siena, Florence and Padua, II, 9-15.
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→ Assignment #3 (response to Siena reading) handed out
March 3 (W):
Siena: the Palazzo Pubblico and the “Ben comune”
Reading: Cunningham, “For the honour and beauty of the city: the design of
town halls,” in Siena, Florence and Padua, II, 34-42; Norman, Painting in
Late Medieval and Renaissance Siena, 98-104.
March 5 (F):
The Duomo complex: Marian narrative and civic ambition
Reading: Benton, “The design of Siena and Florence Duomos,” in Siena,
Florence and Padua, II, 128-143; Norman, Painting in Late Medieval and
Renaissance Siena, 74-81; Norman, Siena and the Virgin, 66-85.
March 8 (M):
Public works in Siena: the Ospedale and the communal fonti
Reading: Norman, Siena and the Virgin, 86-103.
→ Assignment #4 (response to Brown reading) handed out.
March 10 (W):
Siena and the Sienese contado
Reading: Norman, Siena and the Virgin, 106-109, 121-130.
*Assignment #3 Due*
March 12 (F):
Group meetings with professor
(These can also be scheduled outside of class)
March 15-19:
Buone vacanze!!
March 22 (M):
Group meetings with professor
March 24 (W):
 Venice 
The Origins of La Serenissima
Reading: Brown, Art and Life in Renaissance Venice (finish by April 2).
→ Take-home essay handed out
March 26 (F):
Civic Spaces at the Doge’s Palace and Piazza San Marco
Reading: Brown.
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*2nd preliminary report due (1st draft of bibliography/website guide and
powerpoint)*
March 29 (M):
San Marco: Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance Art
Reading: Brown.
March 31 (W):
Monastic establishments at the Frari and Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Reading: Brown.
April 2 (F):
The Venetian scuole or confraternities
*Assignment #4 Due*
April 5 (M):
The sestieri and the Formation of the Venetian Ghetto
Reading: Jan Morris, “Lively Birthplace of a Fateful Word,” 140-145.
April 7 (W):
Catch-up and Review of Siena and Venice
**Take-home essay due in class**
April 9 (F):
***EXAM II***
April 12 (M):
Group Meetings
April 14 (W):
Group Meetings
April 16 (F):
 Group Presentations: AREZZO and BOLOGNA 
(exact dates, order, and number of presentations TBA)
(others include Bergamo, Volterra, Cortona, Piacenza, Assisi, etc.)
April 19 (M):
 CREMONA and FERRARa 
April 21 (W):
 LUCCA and MANTUA (MANTOVa) 
April 23 (F):
 ORVIETO and Padua (Padova) 
April 26 (M):
 PArMA and PAVIA
April 28 (W):
 Perugia and PIENZA 
April 30 (F):
 Pisa and PISTOIA 
May 3 (M):
 PRATO and TODI 
May 5 (W):
 URBINO and VERONa 
May 7 (F):
Catch-up, Conclusions
**Written Portion of Group Projects Due**
** Individual Presentation Journals Due**
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