Understanding the Italian Renaissance: History, Society and the Rise of the Artist

This course is an online Zoom event. The recordings will be made available to ALL attendees and will be available for 4 weeks after each weekly lecture.

This course offers an in-depth exploration of some of the defining themes and contexts of Italian Renaissance art. We will begin by examining the very idea of the ‘Renaissance’: what is meant by the term, when it was first used, and how the concept of rebirth had its roots in humanist learning. We will go on to consider the central place of classical revival in the Renaissance, from antiquarianism and collecting, to drawing after the antique and the re-emergence of mythological subject matter. But we will also look at the continuing relevance of religion and systems of belief that are more commonly associated with the Middle Ages, from pilgrimage and relics to miraculous images. From there, we will reflect on the role of patrons in shaping the art of the day, from the mercantile classes of cities such as Florence, to the ducal courts of Mantua and Ferrara. And we will conclude with a consideration of the changing status of the artist, and how writings on art helped to shape the modern concept of individual creative genius.

Lectures

Week 1 The Idea of the ‘Renaissance’ – from the narrative of rebirth to modern historiography

Week 2 The Lure of Antiquity – humanism, collecting and classical revival

Week 3 Piety, Purgatory and Pilgrimage – art and Christianity in the Renaissance

Week 4 Merchants and Princes – the politics of patronage

Week 5 From the Workshop to the Academy – the changing status of the artist