27928 - Laboratory (1) (LM) (G. D)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the laboratory the student knows how to organize and collect complex information in a coherent way, knows how to apply methodologies of critical analysis on the visual arts. He/she knows how to appropriately use the sources of information necessary to address research in the various areas of the visual arts.

Course contents

The course is dedicated to the visual results of the discovery of America, from the conquest of the southern countries to the revolution of 1783 and the birth of the United States of America.
The reactions of European artists (Durer, Bellini, Raphael) to the Letters of Columbus and the writings of Las Casas will be investigated; T. de Bry and stories of cannibalism; the cognitive approach of U. Aldrovandi and F. Hernandez in the sixteenth century; the New World in allegory (Rubens, Le Brun, Tiepolo); the America of the Dutch (F. Post and A. Eckhout); from the New World to Europe (West, Trumbull) and from Europe to the New World (M. Gandolfi); the eighteenth century of the Enlightenment and freedom (Fragonard for B. Franklin, Wright of Derby, Barry, Blake).
The course will also be aimed at investigating the evolution of European thought towards the New World, through the examination of the different ways of approaching otherness: discovery / conquest / invention, to reach the contemporary times.

Readings/Bibliography

1. For attending students:

H. HONOR, The New Golden Land. European Images of America from the Discoveries to the Present Time, Pantheon Books, New York 1975, pp. 3-160.

D. BIAGI MAINO, Il cannibale e il buon selvaggio. L'invenzione dell'America, in Il mito del nemico. Identità, alterità e loro rappresentazioni, I. Graziani and M. V. Spissu, eds., Minerva, Bologna 2019, pp.245-255.

2. For non-attending students, in addition to the texts indicated above, the study is required of C. SAVETTIERI, Il Portrait d'une négresse di Marie-Guilhemine Benoist: problemi interpretativi e ambivalenza di un'opera di rottura, in Le rappresentazioni dei neri in età moderna. Temi e questioni metodologiche, Carocci editore, Roma 2022, pp. 91-109.

Teaching methods

The course will be held in attendance.

At the discretion of the students, it is possible to deepen single topics among those illustrated in the first 6 lessons with the drafting of a short text illustrated by a power point presentation on a topic of interest, previously discussed with the teacher.

Assessment methods

Verification of learning takes place only through the oral exam, aimed at ascertaining the knowledge and critical skills acquired by the student during the training course.

The interview will focus on what was discussed in class (for those attending) and on learning and understanding the texts indicated in the bibliography.

The candidate will be led to demonstrate the acquired awareness of the interpretative model chosen to face, through the use of images, the long historical path discussed during the course and / or through the texts indicated in the bibliography, so as to certify the understanding of the vastness of the survey models and its consequent significance for research.

The mastery of the contents, the adequate expression and the appropriate language for the subject will be evaluated as well as the ability to synthesize and analyze the concepts discussed in class.

The understanding of the problems related to the examination of the historical path investigated, the mastery of the specific language of the discipline and, obviously, the in-depth knowledge of the texts of the program will be evaluated with marks of excellence.

The only mnemonic knowledge of the subject, the capacity for synthesis and analysis not correctly developed in an adequate language will lead to discrete evaluations.

Training gaps or lack of the appropriate vocabulary, poor knowledge of the analysis tools and of the problems related to what was discussed during the course and / or indicated in the specific bibliography will lead to only sufficiency.

Poor knowledge of the texts in the program, inadequate vocabulary, lack of understanding of the criticality of the topic and of the conservation problem will be evaluated negatively.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentations which will be made available to students at the end of the laboratory.

Office hours

See the website of Donatella Biagi