B5142 - Art History in the Modern Age (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have mastered the methodologies of investigation and interdisciplinary critical tools necessary for analysing the relationships between art, politics and power through the study and interpretation of works of art with a historical contextual approach. They will be able to familiarise themselves with the main problems and lines of research in art from the 16th to the 18th century and to recognise, classify and analyse the works of the most representative artists of the various movements. Students will be able to recognise the relevance of the historical-artistic heritage and will be able to communicate in oral form using specific terminology. They will be able to describe and illustrate cultural encounters through specific cases and to understand multicultural contexts by appreciating the products of material and artistic culture. They will be able to recognise the relationships between different disciplines and to identify the specific contribution that the historical sciences can make in different contexts. They will be able to update their knowledge and research methods through opportunities for comparison and learning according to their abilities and inclinations, through the tools developed by the scientific community, using multimedia resources and autonomously consulting historiographical texts in original languages other than Italian.

Course contents

While  the second module dwelt on a single cycle of frescoes, so as to be able to delve into the different tools that enable one to carry out a contextual iconological analysis, in the firs module more varied examples will be considered, which we can call “case studies”. Initially, we will examine the staging of paintings prepared in 1625 in the Royal Palace in Madrid for the visit of Francesco Barberini, the Cardinal legate, sent by Pope Urban VIII to the court of Philip IV, to seek political mediation in the conflict of the Valtellina. The setting, which was intended to convey a precise political message, pivoted on works by Tiziano created for Charles V and Philip II. So to better understand the relationship between art, politics and power, in addition to the analysis of the historical context, special attention will be given to Tiziano.

Also related to Tiziano, but also to Correggio and Raphael, is the grant of the fief of Piombino to Prince Niccolò Ludovisi by Philip IV in the 1630s. An interesting example of how works of art could have a very important function in the political and diplomatic sphere at that time.

Finally, still remaining in the pontificate of Urban VIII, with the specific aim of not creating chronological dispersion, the iconographic program of Palazzo Barberini in Rome will be analyzed, in particular the Trionfo della divina Provvidenza (Triumph of Divine Providence) by Pietro da Cortona (1632-1638), which in retrospect can be considered a political propaganda message with strong manipulative connotations, since the pictorial exaltation of the papal family, through religious and mythological allegories, was not matched in reality by a coherent management of power.

This program is reserved exclusively for students who attend lessons because notes taken in the classroom and educational material provided case-by-case by the professor will constitute, beyond the bibliography provided below, a fundamental part of the course that will be evaluated during the final exam. Students who do not plan to attend lessons should refer to the dedicated bibliography below.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography for students who  attend lessons

A. Pinelli, La Storia dell’Arte. Istruzioni per l’uso, Bari, Giuseppe Laterza & figli, 2009 (or following editions).

A. Anselmi, Premessa e Introduzione, in A. Anselmi, Il diario del viaggio in Spagna del cardinale Francesco Barberini scritto da Cassiano dal Pozzo, Aranjuez, Doce Calles, 2004, XV-XIX e XXIX-LXIV.

A. Anselmi, Arte, politica e diplomazia: Tiziano, Correggio, Raffaello, l’investitura di Piombino e notizie su agenti spagnoli a Roma, in The Diplomacy of Art, ed. by E. Cropper,  conference proceedings, Florence, Villa Spellman, 3-4 July 1998, Milan, Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 2000, pp. 101-120.

As a reference manual, students may consult S. Settis-T. Montanari, Arte. Una storia naturale e civile, 5 vols., Milan, Mondadori, 2019, vol. III.

 

Bibliography for students who do not attend lessons

A. Pinelli, La Storia dell’Arte. Istruzioni per l’uso, Bari, Giuseppe Laterza & figli, 2009.

Dialogo artistico tra Italia e Spagna, ed. by M. Pigozzi, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2018 (except di essay of J. M. Leza in spamish).

As a reference manual, students may consult S. Settis-T. Montanari, Arte. Una storia naturale e civile, 5 vols., Milan, Mondadori, 2019, vol. III.

 

Teaching methods

Explanations with projections and image analysis. Research in databases under the guidance of the professor.

Teaching partecipate to the educational experimental project of the University following the model of " Digital integrative teaching"

 

Assessment methods

EXAMS WILL BE ONLY IN ITALIAN.

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

Students who follow the course can choose, only for the first two convocations, between a written proof (24 questions at multiple choice and three open questions) or an oral proof. Since third convocation the exam will be only oral. Students who do not follow the course have to pass an oral examination, they do not have the possibility to partecipate to the written proof partially based on the content of the course.

Grades are assigned in relation to a total of thirty points, with a laude for outstanding performance. The minimum passing grade is 18/30. Examinations will serve to verify the student’s level of preparation and critical skills in relation to the classroom lessons and assigned readings.

The exam consists of a written proof (only for the first two convocations, in Decembre and January) or an oral proof finalized to value critics and methodological skills matured by the student.

Students following the course have to do an individual work that the student has to present, in seminar form, during the last lessons: to any student will be assigned a source (documentary, iconographic, literary, historiography) to be analyzed with the metodologica tools given at lesson.

In the evaluation of the proof it will take into account, particularly, the student's capacity to orient himself with sources and bibliography given for the exam, so as to be able to acquire the useful knowledge, which allows him to illustrate themes and problems and to be able to connect them.

Therefore, it will be valued: Knowledge of contents. Ability in synthesizing and analyzing themes and concepts. Ability to exprime himself adequately and with a language appropriate to the subject matter.

The achievement by the student of an organic vision of themes treated at lesson jointly to their critical utilization, a good mastery of expression and specific language will be valued with a vote of excellence.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject of study, with an ability of synthesis and analysis expressed in a correct language, but not always appropriate, will lead to a discrete evaluation.

Training gaps and/or inappropriateness - even in a contest of minimal knowledge of exam material - will lead to a vote which will not be superior to sufficient.

Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation with bibliography given during the course will lead to a negative evaluation.

Students enrolled in the course as part of an Integrated Course (I.C.) must pass the examination of both parts on the same day (the final grade will be the arithmetic average of the marks obtained in the two parts).

Exams convocations will be six: the first one in December, then January, March, June, July and September. The precise day will be comunicate as soon as classrooms will be assigned.

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Teaching tools

Projector and personal computer. Didactic materials, like power point presented during the class, will be put in virtual resources.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra Anselmi