30136 - History of Modern Art (LM)

Learning outcomes

The class is intended to deepen the knowledge of themes, protagonists and events of European painting from the fifteenth to the end of the eighteenth centuries. By the end of the class, the students should have improved their abilities to read an artwork in formal, stylistic, iconographic and technical terms, and to understand its relationship with the historical, religious and cultural context.

Course contents

The course will consider the painting genres of still life and portrait. The course consists of two teaching modules: the first one, taught by Dr. Daniele Benati, will examine still life, the second one, taught by Dr. Irene Graziani, will analyse portrait.

Course start: February 3, 2016 (second module: March 7, 2016)

Course timetable

First module (Daniele Benati)

Wednesday, 15-17

Thursday, 15-17

Friday, 15-17

Second module (Irene Graziani)

Monday, 9-11

Tuesday, 9-11

Wednesday, 9-11

The program of the course Women painters in Western History of Arts of GEMMA Master can be found on the teacher’s web site, in the section useful contents.

Readings/Bibliography

A) Institutional part (for both 12 and 6 CFU):

Students has to know the chapters of an Art History textbook from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries (from Late Gothic to Neoclassicism). The following textbooks are recommended:

• •  
  • Giuliano Briganti, Carlo Bertelli, and Antonio Giuliano, Storia dell'arte italiana, Milan, Electa, 1986 (and reprints)
  • P. De Vecchi, E. Cerchiari, Arte nel tempo, Milan, Bompiani, 1991 (and reprints)

    If you would like to use other textbooks, please contact the teacher.

    For 12 CFU: you should add to A) two books for each module (B1 and B2: four books).

 

B) Monographic part:

B1) «The Still Life» (two books)

One book chosen from the following:

• M. Rosci, La natura morta, in Storia dell'arte italiana, 11, Forme e modelli, Einaudi, 1982, pp. 81-113;
• La natura morta in Italia, a cura di F. Zeri, F. Porzio, 2 voll., Electa, 1989 (un capitolo su una scuola regionale con relative biografie degli artisti);
• La natura morta italiana. Da Caravaggio al Settecento, a cura di M. Gregori, catalogo della mostra, (Firenze, Palazzo Strozzi), Electa, 2003.

• One book chosen from the following:

• D. Benati and L. Peruzzi, eds., La natura morta in Emilia e in Romagna. Pittori, centri di produzione e collezionismo fra XVII e XVIII secolo, Skira, 2000.
• G. Godi, ed., Fasto e rigore. La natura morta nell'Italia settentrionale dal XVI al XVIII secolo, (exhibition catalogue), Colorno, Reggia, Skira, 2000.
• S. Casciu, ed., Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano. Museo della Natura Morta. Catalogo dei dipinti, Sillabe, 2009.
• A. Mazza, Dipinti di natura morta dalla collezione del maestro Francesco Molinari Pradelli, (exhibition catalogue), Bologna, Palazzo Fava, Bononia University Press, 2012.
• F. Baldassarri, D. Benati, eds., Cristoforo Munari 1667-1720. Un maestro della natura morta, (exhibition catalogue), Reggio Emilia, Palazzo Magnani, Motta, 1999.

 

B2) «The Portrait» (two books)

One book chosen from the following:

• E. Castelnuovo, Ritratto e società in Italia dal Medioevo all'avanguardia, Turin 2015 (formerly issued as: E. Castelnuovo, Il significato del ritratto pittorico nella società, in Storia d'Italia, V, I documenti, 5, Turin 1973, 1033-1094)
• Èdouard Pommier, Il ritratto: storia e teorie dal Rinascimento all'età dei Lumi, Turin 2003

  One book from the following:

• D. Benati, ed., Figure come il naturale. Il ritratto a Bologna dai Carracci al Crespi, (exhibition catalogue), Dozza, Milan 2001
• Irene Graziani, Sognare l'Arcadia. Stefano Torelli, «peintre enchanteur» nelle grandi corti del Nord, Bologna 2013

  For 6 CFU: you should add to A) only one module chosen from B1 and B2.

Teaching methods

Lectures and tours guided by the teacher.

Assessment methods

Students will be assessed in two ways

• by means of a written text concerning the general context which will have the objective of testing the student's knowledge of the socio-artistic fabric with reference to the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries (preparation will be provided by the course lectures supplemented by textbook study). This exam will involve the projection of ten images of works of art. Each image will be screened for 5 minutes during which time the candidate must fill in a profile indicating the work's historical context and, if possible, the name of the artist. The candidate may repeat the test but a poor result will not prevent admission to the oral test, although it will count towards the final result.
• by means of an oral examination in which the candidate is required to engage in critical analysis based on the course readings.

Evaluation

The written test will be marked as follows:

- Correct image recognition (artist, subject, date, place of storage, short critical reading of its iconographic aspects, historical context and stylistic characteristics): on a scale of 1 to 3 points;

- Incorrect identification or failure to identify the image: zero points.

The pass mark is 18/30.

Evaluation of the oral examination will follow the usual principle of judging excellence to mean evidence of a solid artistic and historical grounding and of a mature critical awareness. The written test counts for a third of the final mark (10/30).

The written exam can be sat whenever there is an oral exam session.

The assessment procedure is the same for students who attend or do not attend lectures.

Teaching tools

Lectures with digital slides, which will be made available for students.

Office hours

See the website of Irene Graziani