COURSE PROPOSAL GENERAL EDUCATION SUBMISSION FORM
ITALIAN ART: ANCIENT AND RENAISSANCE ART
IN ROME AND FLORENCE
Europe Semester, Westmont College fall 2012
A. GE component for which course is being proposed:
B. Submitted by: Professor John Carlander, MFA
C. Chair has reviewed and approved the course, Yes
D. Course being proposed (syllabus attached)
E. This course is a new course designed to fulfill the GE requirement
Yes
F. An Individual Course
G. Statement of rationale
A.GE component for which course is being propsed:
Performing and Interpreting the Arts
E. Students will expand their understanding of the fine arts emphasizing the
visual arts, develop physical practices integral to the art form, and explore the
critical principles which guide artists in the area
D. Course being proposed: IS 123 Italian Art: Ancient and Renaissance Art in
Rome and Florence (4)
G. Statement of rationale:
Objectives of this course are first to immerse students in the study of the art of
ancient Rome by beginning with a study of the influence of ancient Greece upon
Roman art and architecture. Activities will include specific reading assignments,
class lectures with projected images and then visits to the actual art being
studied, the first example being the ancient Roman Pantheon. Other examples
of this study will include the Colosseum, the Forum, the Arch of Constantine, and
the Arch of Titus with its relief sculptures.
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A second major objective of this course will be a concentration upon the art of the
Early and High Renaissance in Italy, particularly focusing upon the art that is
accessible in Florence. While in Rome some inclusion of Renaissance works will
be included in the course, including the obvious masterpieces St. Peter’s
Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Stanza della Signatura, the buildings on the
Capitoline Hill, and the Moses by Michelangelo.
In Florence, painting, sculpture and architecture will all be studied and then each
example will be seen in person. The first objective will be to talk in class (lecture
and discussion) about the Or San Michele, as it exemplifies the guild system at
the time of the Early Renaissance. Since the building is easily accessible, a first
walking tour will include it along with the Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo, (Santa
Maria della Fiori).
The obvious advantage of this course will be not only the study of these major art
works via reading and study of the printed and projected images but visiting them
to view the actual artworks will give the students a lasting investigation into the
art of the Renaissance and its place in history.
This course at the beginning will examine the relationship between ancient Greek
art and its heavy impact upon the art of ancient Rome. Comparisons of Greek
temples with Roman temples will be examined. The motivations and needs of
the Roman Empire will be looked at in terms of their massive building projects,
including aqueducts, baths, temples, triumphal arches and public meeting
spaces. The Roman expansion of Greek concepts will be observed in such
examples as two Greek theatres being brought together to form an amphitheatre,
or colosseum. Classroom activities will include preparation for visits to the
magnificent ancient Roman structures such as the Pantheon, the Colosseum and
the ruins on the Forum, the Arch of Constantine and the Arch of Titus. A visit
will be made on the Forum to the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine and
nearby to the the Column of Trajan, and later the Ara Pacis, the Altar of Peace,
time permitting.
While the emphasis on the Renaissance will be primarily in Florence, major
works in Rome from the Renaissance period will also be studied and visited.
These include the Capitoline Hill and the buildings there designed by
Michelangelo. The statue of Moses will be viewed after classroom discussion, at
San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. A study of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel,
the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace and the Moses by
Michelangelo
In Florence the emphasis will be upon Early Renaissance and High Renaissance
art, primarily with painting, sculpture and architecture. Classroom instructional
activities regarding architecture will be in lecture and discussion of specific
buildings such as the Orsanmichele and the sculptures of the guilds adorning the
building, the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, The Duomo, The Pazzi Chapel, Santa
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Croce and San Lorenzo. A painting of the Trinity by Masaccio will be first studied
in class and then visited at Santa Maria Novella. The important paintings by
Masaccio at Santa Maria del Carmine will be viewed after classroom study. At
the Monastery of San Marco in Florence, the beautiful painting of the
Annunciation by Fra Angelico will be seen, along with the paintings by him in
each of the individual monks’ cells. The larger room of Cosimo de’Medici can be
entered as well as the cell where Savonarola lived and studied.
The Galleria degli Uffizi that contains the world’s greatest collection of
Renaissance Painting will be a highlight of the course. The competition between
Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti with the subject of the Sacrifice of
Isaac can be studied at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence. Along
with those competition panels significant major works by Donatello including the
Prophet (Lo Zuccone), originally from the campanile of the Florence Cathedral,
and his David and Repentant Magdalene will be studied. The David by Andrea
del Verocchio, teacher of Leonardo da Vinci will round out a study of a trio of
Davids, those of Donatello, Verocchio and Michelangelo.
A major aspect of the course will be the actual production of well-directed studio
projects that will be produced by the students themselves. A small kit of art
supplies will be given to each student in order for them to experience what it
means to design and create art works. Within this process will be exposure not
just to Renaissance art in Italy, but also to 20th Century concepts in art that also
might spill over into a limited discussion of 20th and 21st Century contemporary
art. This connection will help students to understand the art of the Renaissance
within the context of the time period in Italy and then the contrast with 20 th
Century concepts will engage their imaginations to understand many differences
some possible connections.
ASSIGNMENTS
Students will be given topics for individual reports. An individual will be given a
topic such as the Moses by Michelangelo. An oral presentation by the student
will be given in class before visiting the church housing the sculpture,
Reading from texts and/or a reader will comprise a majority of outside of class
work. Art assignments will be given and will be worked on in class as well as
outside of class.
INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
Class presentations will be given via LCD projector, projecting the images in the
classroom so that lecture can be enhanced by the images and class discussions
can be carried out with the assistance of those images. Lectures will concentrate
on the specific images and what the students can expect to experience when
they see the actual works. The visit to see the actual original work will involve the
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students after they have learned significant facts about the work and after they
understand the later historical impact these works spawned.
Teaching techniques will involve asking questions of students after they have
read about the period of time. Questions regarding the history of the area at the
time, the involvement of the Church in the culture of the day, the tensions of war
and politics at the time of the Renaissance, and the response of the artists to
some of those pressures, including the pressure of the Pope upon Raphael and
Michelangelo to produce work adequate to the desires of the Pope.
These questions and many others will involve the students in discussions both
with the professor and with each other in discussion groups.
REQUIRED READINGS
Reading assignments will be given so that students are well-prepared to see the
major works Both having knowledge regarding facts and details regarding the
works, placing them in historical context and then viewing and studying the
images ahead of time will prepare the students for what they are going to see
and experience. The particular reading materials are yet to be selected.
Explorations are being made regarding putting together a reader or text, also with
images, that each student may carry with them. Seeing the images is important
to the course, so the books selected or the reader will need to cover the material
thoroughly. (Attention is being paid to weight so that the material will not become
too heavy to carry from city to city.)
TESTS/EXAMS
Tests will cover some of the facts of the artists and their art works as well as
questions developed from lectures. Questions will be included that allow for
students to express individual responses to what they have studied and seen in
person, so questions that ask for both objective and subjective responses will a
part of the tests and exams given. Informed subjective responses will be
encouraged as a way to engage the students’ interest into ways of thinking with
which they are not very familiar.
Test will include both direct “fill in the blank” questions, identification of much of
the art we will have studied, and essay questions probing their understanding of
the material beyond the facts.
CERTIFICATION CRITERIA
Developing language and terminology that identifies art periods and movements,
artists’ work and techniques and words commonly used in the description and
interpretation of art and art movements will be a necessary component of the
course. Practice in speaking about art and writing about art will be developed
during the course.
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Methods of analysis, interpretation and the enjoyment of the art being viewed
both in class and in museums will be developed. The involvement of the
students with the Christian content of the art plays a large part in understanding
it, and through the process of observation and experience the topic of Christian
faith evolves as a product of the viewing and class discussions. The Protestant
dislike of images and the Roman Catholic love of images confronts the students
with a challenge, intellectually, spiritually and personally.
In actually making art, students will be given specific methods and it is through
their projects that they will express individuality and their own subjective thoughts
through their own individual decisions.
While the physical processes used during this four week course will not approach
the sophistication of art from the Renaissance, in other words, the students will
not paint frescoes, carve stone or cast sculptures in bronze, physical processes
will involve media that art appropriate to the level of the students and to the
physical situation, and those will allow for “artistic realization and production.”
Within the limits of traveling in Italy and working in limited spaces, students will
demonstrate “appropriate techniques” and will show critical awareness in their
artistic productions.
TEXTS
Texts or readers will be a part of this course and specific texts are still being
reviewed at this time. Some of those being considered include:
Roman Art and Architecture Mortimer Wheeler Thames and Hudson
Art in Renaissance Italy John T. Paoletti & Gary M. Radke Pearson/Prentiss Hall
Renaissance Florence A. Richard Turner Prentice Hall
The Lives of the Artists Georgio Vasari
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