ARTH116

This course intends to introduce the major protagonists, monuments, and themes of Western art, architecture and visual culture. Chronologically, it will explore the production and reception of artworks from the 14th to the end of the 18th century from the early Renaissance to the Napoleonic period, the age of Neoclassicism. Special attention will be paid to formal, compositional, and structural analysis of important artworks, in an attempt to establish a critically-based connection between styles, techniques, and hisotircal conditions. The course will also explore critical issues such as how art functioned in relation to religion or under the different systems of power, or why certain iconographies were more prominent than others in specific social contexts. Given the introductory approach of this class, the artistic production of certain masters (such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Canova) will be examined in a more detailed way, in order to examine the complex interplay of personal choices and normative patterns related to the process of creation of a visual artwork.

All Years

Spring Semester