N.Y.U. Freshman Seminar Syllabus, 2013
THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF PAPAL ROME: MICHELANGELO AND
CARAVAGGIO
FRSEM-UA 366.001
Instructor: Prof. Emeritus Guy Walton; Email: gw1@nyu.edu
Class location: 302 Silver, Department of Art History. Wednesdays: 9:30 to noon.
Notices posted by Email
Instructor’s Office hours: Tuesday 5-6 PM and Wednesday before and after class, but appointments must be made in advance for these times, in person or by Email.
Thursday mornings are also possible. (Consultations on class presentations and papers before they are given or submitted are strongly suggested.)
Recent biographies of Michelangelo by John Spike Young Michelangelo and by
Antonio Forcellino Michelangelo a Tormented Life, and of Caravaggio by Andrew
Graham-Dixon Caravaggio, a Life Sacred and Profane, will provide the focus of this course along with contemporary writings. The course will study the remarkable papal patronage of the arts of Rome during the reigns of a number of popes, including Sixtus IV, Alexander VI, Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII, Paul III, Sixtus V,
Clement VIII and Paul V along with other patrons close to the papal court at the time.
[The books are available at the N.Y.U. bookstore, or through Amazon, paperback and on on Kindle, though the paperback versions may prove more convenient for this course.] [Students should begin immediately to read through these books as quickly as possible, Forcellino should be completed by October 31, Graham-
Dixon somewhat later, by the end of November.]
A primary goal of the course will be to increase students’ skills in research, oral and written presentation of material and we shall make use of some of the excellent facilities the university has to offer. It is anticipated that some of these skills learned here will prove useful at later stages of students’ academic careers.
Knowledge of the Italian language is highly desirable though not required. Students will, however, be expected to pronounce the Italian words (names of people, places,
etc.) that they use in class so that these are recognizable, thus reasonably close to the
Italian pronunciation. Help with this should be sought from fellow students or
the instructor, if necessary, before class discussions and presentations.
Note: The class is scheduled as from 9:30 to noon our class time will generally be organized in two parts with a ten-minute break. Though the instructor will lecture from time to time—especially at the beginning of the term-- the class sessions will be a mix of discussions, student class presentations, movie videos and a museum visit related to the topic of the course. Some meetings will be about research in the field and the preparation of papers in the disciplines of history, biography and art history.
There will be some additional assigned readings for specific classes. These must be completed in a timely manner as assigned since they are essential background for class learning and discussions. Remarks by students in class discussions that show

evidence of an understanding of the assigned reading will be appreciated by the instructor and play a role in the determination of the course grade.
Library of the Department of Art History: The Reserve Reading Room of the
Department is open to the students of this seminar. It is located at the South end of the corridor beyond 303 Silver and the seminar classroom. While this material does not circulate and must be used in the reading room, many important books, some not easily available elsewhere, may be studied there. The books must be requested from the student monitor and ID cards should be left as security. The monitors have lists of the books on the reserve for this course. There are also some photocopies on reserve for this course. Exceptionally, they may be taken out for copying for up to one hour. The instructor will provide for the class copies of some articles needed for reading assignments.
Students are required to attend all class meetings and the field trip. In the event of unavoidable absence the instructor should be informed in advance, in person or by Email, or as soon as possible afterwards. He can also be reached on his home phone at (646) 486 6986 on Wed. mornings. For those who cannot be at the museum with the class, short papers about make up visits will be required.
Students’ grades will depend on two class presentations, a summery of each of the presentations (to be distributed to all members of the class at the time of the presentations), a written version of the class presentations in the form of an
academic essay and a scholarly review of each of the biographies, the
Michelangelo review due October 30, that of the Caravaggio book on December 3.
Class presentations: The topics of the class presentations are related to Roman and
Florentine buildings and works of art of the period 1480-1605. Most of these will relate directly to Michelangelo and Caravaggio, a few others should help to broaden the class’s perspective on the wide range of innovation and creativity of this period, including important works done by other artists.
The first class presentation should be 5 minutes in length, the second 10 to 15 minutes. Students are strongly advised to review the second presentation material with the instructor before giving it and to do at least one rehearsal (to a friend, roommate. or for another class member). A fact sheet for other class members related to the presentation topic should be ready and must be distributed to the class members at the time of each talk. While it is not forbidden to read parts of the presentations, ex temp presentations are generally more effective. Reading from the screen is strongly discouraged. Both for the sake of the class and because the second presentation will count 25% of your course grade the presentation should show careful preparation, both academically and as a performance.
It is anticipated that the student talks will be PowerPoint presentations, certainly for the major presentation. Illustrations should do justice to the works discussed.
Ground plans and elevations of buildings are desirable when appropriate. Portraits of donors and comparative material may be shown, and tables of chronology for

works executed or built over several years would be welcome along with pages of bullet points.
Two weeks after the second class presentation a paper will be due on the presentation topic. This may be submitted by Email to the instructor. For the paper illustrations are not required, though these may be included if needed to make an important point or if they are likely to be unknown to the instructor.
Topics of the major presentations: (To be modified if the enrollment is less than
18 students)
[1. The décor of the Sistine Chapel of Sixtus IV]
2. Michelangelo’s Pieta
3. Michelangelo’s Early Projects for the tomb of Julius II (before the pope’s death)
The Sistine Chapel
For Julius II
4. Ceiling scenes from Genesis and their surroundings
5. Prophets and Sibyls
[6. The Ancestors of Christ and the Old Testament corner scenes]
For Leo X
[7. The Sistine Tapestries by Raphael]
For Clement VIII and Paul III
8. The Last Judgment
9. The Pauline Chapel
Later Works of Michelangelo
[10. The Medici Tombs, Florence, San Lorenzo]
[11. The final Tomb of Julius II, Rome, San Pietro in Vincoli]
12. The Project for Completing St. Peter’s (including Michelangelo’s Dome)
Caravaggio
13.Paintings for Cardinals
14. Amor Victorious
15. Contarelli Chapel at San Luigi dei Francesi
16. Cerasi Chapel at Santa Maria del Popolo
[17. The Roman Altarpieces]
18. Self representation in works of art
Scholarly Review of the Michelangelo and Caravaggio Biographies: A major assignment of the course is the writing of reviews of the Forcellino and Graham-
Dixon books. Some class time will be devoted to the discussion of such reviews by

reputable scholars and historians-- both those of the books in question, and of other similar studies-- to determine what might be considered desirable and necessary for the student reviews. It is expected that the reviews by students will demonstrate a good grasp of the books, and hopefully, some evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of both of them. It is strongly suggested that students should be familiar with other biographies of the two artists (especially Condivi’s, Spike’s, Baglione’s and Ebert-Schifferer’s) as well as more specialized works such as catalogues of major museum exhibitions of their works and standard art historical monographs.
Papers should be six or more pages in length and should be submitted by Email. As a part of the preparation for the writing of the reviews there will be discussions in class of the tradition of the writing of biographies of artists, and of biography as a historical discipline.
September 3
1.Introductory: Goals of the Seminar and brief introduction to the Syllabus;
Why Michelangelo and Caravaggio, Renaissance and Counter Reformation?
2. Geography and Buildings of Christian Rome, 300-1600: talk by the instructor.
Readings for September 10 and 17 class, copies to be distributed: Ingrid
Rowland, “Cultural Introduction to Renaissance Rome” in Hall, Artistic Centers of
Renaissance Rome: Rome p1-14; Lauren Partridge, “Patronage and Popes: Saints or
Sinners” in The Art of Renaissance Rome p 9-17.
Assignments of short class presentations for Sept. 10 to be distributed.
September 10
Short (5 min.) student presentations
Topics:
Popes: Martin V; Nicolas V; (Paul II); Sixtus IV; Alexander VI; Julius II; (Leo X);
(Clement VII)
Humanists: Plutarch; Leto; (Platina); Erasmus
Artists: Alberti; Bramante; Raphael
Roman buildings: The Lateran Basilica and Palace (Church of the Savior, later San
Giovanni in Laterano, in English, St. John’s in the Lateran); Old St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican (destroyed in parts between 1505 and 1605); Santa Maria Maggiore (or
St. Mary the Major).
Distribution of Major Class Presentation Assignments (the earliest
presentation being on Sept. 25), and the assignment of topics to students by the instructor. See above for the topics. Students are asked to inform the instructor if they have one or two preferences among these and if they might not be present on the day assigned.
In preparation for the showing of the film “The Agony and the Ecstasy” and the discussion of it Sept. 18:
Further reading assignment: Asconio Condivi “The Life of Michelangelo” Wohl
2 nd ed. p 28-58; John Spike Young Michelangelo p 180-225.
September 18
Film showing of “The Agony and the Ecstasy” by Carol Reed,1965.

Discussion of the “Agony and the Ecstasy” film, if time permits.
Reading assignment for October 2, text to be distributed Sept. 18:
Malcolm Bull “The Iconography of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling” Burlington Magazine
August 1988.
September 25
Visit to Bobst Library for a talk by Laurie Murphy on methods of library research
Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and the art and architecture of Rome.
Student Presentations 1 and 2: Discussion of the presentations.
October 2
Discussion of the Bull article (See above, Sept.18).
Student presentations, 3,4: discussion of the presentations.
Reading assignment for Oct. 9: Vasari’s and Condivi’s Biographies of Michelangelo.
October 9
Discussion of 16 th /17th c. artists’ biographies, and of the art of writing artists’ biographies of the time.
Student presentations: 5, 6. Discussion of the presentations
October 16
Student presentations,7,8. Discussion of the presentations.
Short remarks by the instructor: 1)Form and content of the essays to be submitted by students following class presentations.
2) The Sack of Rome, the Council of Trent and their impact on the arts of Rome.
October 23
Student presentations, 9,10.11.12. Discussion of the presentations.
Assigned Reading for Oct. 30: Sybelle Ebert-Schifferer Caravaggio, The Artist and
his Work p 11-27 and Graham-Dixon Caravaggio, a Life Sacred and Profane p 22-59.
October 30
Viewing of part of the RAI film Caravaggio script by James Carrington and Andrea
Purgatori, 2007
Short Discussion of the film.
Reading assignment for November 13: The ruling on art by the Council of Trent,
1563, copy provided. Giovanni Baglione’s 17 th century biography of Caravaggio, copy provided.
November 6
Class visit to the European Paintings Department of the Metropolitan Museum led by the instructor: The Counter Reformation and beyond represented in Italian paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including those of Caravaggio.
Book Reviews of Forcellino’s Michelangelo, a Tormented Life due by Email from all students.

November 13
Instructor’s Remarks: The first student book reviews; suggestions for improvement.
Student presentations, 13,14. Discussion of the presentations.
Assignment due in class November 20: A one page paper describing a religious work by Caravaggio explaining how the work is related to Counter Reformation attitudes towards art and to Caravaggio’s own faith as we understand it today.
November 20
Student presentations, 15,16. Discussion of the presentations.
Class Discussion: Graham-Dixon’s Caravaggio, a Life Sacred and Profane implied by its title the irony that a murderer and socially undisciplined violent man was also a great religious painter. The discussion will begin with the reading of several of the
“Religious Masterpiece” papers (See above) and continue with a review of the evidence of his anti-social conduct while exploring on the basis of Graham-Dixon’s biography the origins and character of the painter’s religious beliefs.
November 26, 27 Instructor available for office visits. No regular class meeting.
December 3
Student Presentations 17,18, Course wrap up.
Reviews of the Graham-Dixon biography of Caravaggio due by Email.
December 10
Last date for the completion of all course work. Submission of this work by Email.
There will be no final exam.