11382 - History of Medieval Art

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will have a general overview of the history of medieval art from 5th to 15th century. Students are expected to acquire on one side the abilities which are necessary for the knowledge and the interpretation of the artistic production of this period and on the other an appropriate use of the adequate methodology. They are also able to examine in depth specific topics, as an instance of specialized research.

Course contents

The first part (A), an orientation part (or if you prefer the "institutional part"), will deal with general issues of the discipline. This course aims to offer a guidance for students to prepare at best the final examination and, of course, it introduces them in the study of the discipline. The list of the course topics includes two main lines. On the one hand, several methodological themes: the periodization of the Middle Ages and medieval art; historical and historical-artistic geography; the relationship between center and periphery; materials and their use; the relationship with the Ancient; the workshop of the medieval artist; reading an artwork, and so on. On the other hand, they will be treated in a more chronological way some key moments of the artistic history of the medieval period (also with the help of seminars held by collaborators). In the second part (B), as usual, students will deal with a research exemplification ("monographic course"), this year focusing on "Contemporary Middle Age", and will consider four different examples: (1) Middle Age as suggestion; (2) street and public art; (3) destruction or covering of symbolic images (4) visual expression of feelings.

Readings/Bibliography

I) Students are required to develop a knowledge of the general outline of art history in Italy from the end of the 5th century to the first Renaissance generation around 1420-30 (chronological limits should be understood with common sense). The final examination will be in a written form for the preparation of which it is recommended the intelligent use of art history manuals covering the period treated, except reduced editions and the texts of Adorno and Argan – the manual and its use will still be dealt with in the first lectures; one of the recommended manuals is C. Bertelli, Invito all’arte, con P. Cova, E. Daffra, S. Nicolini, Bruno Mondadori ed., Ed. Azzurra, 2017. Students are required to orientate themselves among authors, periods and styles (in particular the chronological and geographical-regional differences of the styles) through a direct or photographic knowledge of the works; in this regard, students are invited to expand their visual experience in addition to the manual materials: the use of more manuals, exhibitions catalogues, encyclopedias or their individual voices, series dedicated to authors or periods (the "Classici dell’Arte", the "Maestri del Colore"), or rather the physical approach to the closest Bologna works and monuments or elsewhere. Of course, during the oral examination, students are expected to discuss also about these general outlines (especially if the result of the written part has not been excellent). This part (I) of the syllabus corresponds to part (A) of course. Non-attending students, like those attending, shall follow these same indications; those attending will use their presence as a guide for a better preparation.

(II) Students are required to study in a critical and in-depth way (not a summary or a banal exposition) of one text (or, in one case, a group of texts) chosen among the following list (further indications will be provided during the lectures):

a - J.J.G. Alexander, I miniatori medioevali e il loro metodo di lavoro, it. ed. Modena 2004
b – M. Baxandall, Pittura ed esperienze sociali nell'Italia del Quattrocento, it. ed. Torino 1978 and foll. edd.
c – M. Baxandall, Giotto e gli umanisti, it. ed. Milano 1994 and foll. ed.
d – M. Baxandall, Forme dell'intenzione, it. ed. Torino 2000
e – E. Castelnuovo (ed.), Artifex bonus. Il mondo dell'artista medioevale, Bari 2004
f – H. Focillon, Vita delle forme, it. ed. Torino 1990
g – C. Ginzburg, Indagini su Piero, ed. Torino 1994 (NOT previous ones)
h – E. Panofsky, La prospettiva come “forma simbolica” e altri scritti, it. ed. Milano 1961 and foll. edd.
i – E. Panofsky, Rinascimento e rinascenze nell'arte occidentale, it. ed. Milano 1971 and foll. edd.

l – O. Pächt, La miniatura medioevale, it. ed. Torino 1987 and foll. edd.
m - S. Romano, La O di Giotto, Milano 2008
n - J. Von Schlosser-Magnino, L'arte del Medioevo, it. ed. Torino 1989
o - C. Tosco, L'architettura medievale in Italia, Bologna 2016
p – A. Warburg, La rinascita del paganesimo antico, it. ed. Firenze 1966 and foll. edd.
q – R. Wittkower, La scultura, it. ed. Torino 1985.
Students are expected to choose the text after considering its contents. These indications are for both attending e non-attending students and could be integrated immediately before or during the lectures with other texts.

(III) For the study case: students who will attend classes must study ONE section, who will not TWO. Readings will be as follows, for the first two case studies I will discuss in class in decembre 2020: I. Middle Age as suggestion: together with his / her personal notes, one text to be chosen in the following list: O. Mazzei, Alfonso Rubbiani. La maschera e il volto della città. Bologna 1879-1913, presentazione di F. Solmi, introduzione di M. Dezzi Bardeschi, Bologna 1979; Viollet le Duc, catalogo della mostra (Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 19 fevrier-5 mai 1980), Paris 1980; Viollet-le-Duc e il restauro degli edifici in Francia, catalogo della mostra (Torino 1981), Milano 1981; Alfonso Rubbiani. I veri e i falsi storici, catalogo della mostra (Bologna, febbraio-marzo 1981), a cura di F. Solmi e M. Dezzi Bardeschi, Bologna 1981 (i saggi e una scelta di schede); Alfonso Rubbiani e la cultura del restauro nel suo tempo (1880-1915), atti delle Giornate di studio su Alfonso Rubbiani e la cultura del restauro nel suo tempo (1880-1925), Bologna, 12-14 novembre 1981, a cura di L. Bertelli e O. Mazzei, Milano 1986 (due saggi a scelta); Miti e segni del Medioevo nella citta e nel territorio: dal mito bolognese di re Enzo ai castelli neomedievali in Emilia-Romagna, a cura di M.G. Muzzarelli, Bologna 2001; Neomedievalismi: recuperi, evocazioni, invenzioni nelle città dell'Emilia-Romagna, a cura di M.G. Muzzarelli, Bologna, 2007. II. Street art and public art: together with his / her personal notes, F. Lollini, "Modelli dell'intenzione". Strategie della produzione e dalla percezione: per un confronto tra la pittura medievale e il wall painting contemporaneo, in Do the right wall / Fa' il muro giusto, a cura di F. Naldi, Bologna 2010. III. Destruction and covering of symbolic images: religion, politics, ethics: together with his / her personal notes, the entry Iconoclastia by H. Kessler in the Enciclopedia dell'arte medievale Treccani, on line free access, https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/iconoclastia_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Medievale%29/, and the intro by B. Heal to n. 40 (2017) of Art History (Art and Religious Reform in Early Modern Europe), on line free access, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8365.12305. IV. Gestures and emotional expressions: Middle Age and today: together with his / her personal notes, C. Franzoni, in La Rivista di Engramma, Qualche appunto sui gesti del Medioevo Recensione a Chiara Frugoni La voce delle immagini, Einaudi, Torino 2010 (n. 88, 2011), on line free access http://www.engramma.it/eOS/index.php?id_articolo=701.

(IV) Finally, students are required to have the direct knowledge of at least one church, palace, painting, or any artistic work, chosen by students (concerning, obviously, the medieval period). Students can make ANY CHOICE, in Bologna or elsewhere, and are not required to communicate it to the teacher in advance, nor write it in any way, such as 'tesina' or anything else. This indication applies both to attending and non-attending students.

The foregoing applies to all students who have planned to dedicate a total of 12 credits to MEDIAEVAL ART HISTORY; In this case, the examination consists of a written part (point I) and an oral part (points II, III, IV), and students may take the final examination only after the end of the lectures. Those with 10 credits are required to prepare the same texts as the 12 credits program. Those with 9 credits are required to prepare points I, II and III (point I for the written part, others for the oral). Those with 5 or 6 credits are required to prepare point I for the written part and point II for the oral part, but choosing from point II TWO texts. For examinations with different validity please contact the teacher. The written examination verifies the preparation of point I of the syllabus; students who passed the written part may take the oral examination only within the subsequent six exam dates: if they not take the interview in this time limit, students shall repeat the written part. It’s not possible to take written and oral parts in the same date. Students who don’t pass the written part (a sufficient performance is graded 18), shall skip the following exam date, and that also applies - to avoid abuses very often occurred – to those who retire. In each exam date, it will take place both the written and oral part: students who will not indicate on the webpage Almaesami the exam part they wish to take or try not to follow the indications given, THEY WILL NOT PERMITTED TO TAKE THE EXAMINATION FOR ANY REASON. Until the end of health emergency, the written exam will be substituted by an oral test. Erasmus and Overseas students are required to prepare Part I (this part as an oral examination, if they want, instead of written, altogether or in two different exams), II, III and IV. Section III may (NOT must) be replaced by a personal research (minimum 5 pages long, at least 3 texts in bibliography, no notes); for 5 or 6 credits it applies the same criterion as that for the Italian students.

Teaching methods

Due to the restrictions imposed by the current health emergency, this teaching activity will be carried out in the following manner: traditional method; the teacher will always be present personally in the indicated classroom during this teaching activity, for lectures.  The students will alternate their presence, according to a schedule of shifts being defined (more detailed information regarding the shifts and about the modalities to get access to the classroom lessons will be provided soon). It will always be possible to connect remotely and to follow live lessons via the online platform TEAMS.

In addition to the general syllabus (I), seminars by the teacher and his collaborators are also planned.

Assessment methods

Written examination for point (I); oral examination for points (II), (III) and (IV) of the syllabus (see the relevant section above). Only and exclusively non-native students (Erasmus, Overseas, other exchange programs, as well as individual "freelancers") may – as already said – also discuss the part (I) as an oral examination.
The written part consists of examining 10 projected images, of which students shall give the stylistic coordinates (chronological and geographic) as precisely as possible; it is not a quiz, but a demonstration (open answers) to know how to orientate in a stylistic examination; obviously on the most descriptive and manual images, more precision is required; each image may receive 0 to 4 points, and together they will give the final vote (sufficient is graded as 18, the final vote after the oral examination is based on the vote of the written part, a sufficient and acceptable interview confirms that vote; an inadequate interview lowers it while a brilliant interview increases it (up to 4-5 points). THE PROJECTED IMAGES ARE CHOSEN FROM THE SYLLABUS AND THEY ARE NEITHER A GROUP TO BE LEARNED BY ROTE, NOR PRESENT IN A TEXT X, NOR THOSE OF THE LECTURES, as the purpose is acquiring stylistic analysis skills and not memorizing a group of images. Two recent written examination examples have been uploaded at http://campus.unibo.it/288360/. Until the end of health emergency, the written exam will be substituted by an oral test, with a reduced personal versione with 3 images. The interview, which can only be taken after the written part, will be based on the points II, III and IV of the syllabus in the manner above and on questions about the recommended bibliography and the topics discussed.
It will be assessed as excellent the performance of those students achieving an organic vision of the course contents, the use of a proper specific language, originality of reflection and familiarity with Medieval Art. It will be assessed as discrete the performance of those students showing mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, disarticulated synthesis and analysis capabilities, or a correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a scholastic study of Medieval Art. It will be assessed as barely sufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, lack of knowledge of the instruments of Medieval arts. It will be assessed as insufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, no orientation within the recommended bibliography and inability to ANALISE Medieval Art.

Teaching tools

Projection of images during lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Fabrizio Lollini