02290 - History of Modern Art

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will: - know the main events and crucial issues of the Art especially Italian art from the fifteenth to the late eighteenth century; - acquire the methodological tools for reading the work of art from a formal, stylistic, iconographic and technical point of view; - connect artworks to the context of historical, social and cultural production; - move in the main issues and research lines of the Art; - recognize and comment on the works of the most representative artists of the various movements.

Course contents

The course is composed by two parts of six CFU each, taught by teachers, Daniele Benati and Irene Graziani. Students enrolled in DAMS are required to prepare both modules (12 credits). Students enrolled in other courses are required to prepare the first module (6 credits) or both the modules (9 credits) N.B. The syllabus is the same for attending and non-attending students.

First part (6 CFU) - Institutional part

History of art in Italy from the Renaissance to the Neoclassicism (teacher, prof. Irene Graziani)

Second part (6 CFU) - Insights

Artists and clients - The evolution of the altarpiece from the 15th to the 19th century - The great decoration - The "minor" genres: still life, landscape (teacher, prof. Daniele Benati)

Readings/Bibliography

1) First part (6 CFU):

1/a. It is requested to know the chapters of the textbook with reference to the period from the Renaissance to the Neoclassicism. The recommended texts are:

- Giuliano Briganti, Carlo Bertelli e Antonio Giuliano, Storia dell'arte italiana, Electa, Milano 1986 (and later prints);

- Pierluigi De Vecchi, Elda Cerchiari, Arte nel tempo, Bompiani, Milano 1991 (and later prints);

- Salvatore Settis, Tomaso Montanari, Arte. Una storia naturale e civile, Mondadori, Milano 2019.

The choice of other textbooks should be arranged with Prof. Irene Graziani.

1/b. Furthermore, it is requested to know from life two important artworks / monuments / museums / churches / palaces from the period the exam concerns directly and deeply with the aid of related readings.

2) Second part (6 CFU):

A book chosen among the following:

- Federico Zeri, La percezione visiva dell'Italia e degli italiani, Einaudi, Torino 1976;

- Roberto Longhi, Fatti di Masolino e di Masaccio, 1948; ried. Abscondita, Milano 2014;

- Michael Baxandall, Pittura esperienze sociali nell'Italia del Quattrocento, Einaudi, Torino 1978 (cf. Teaching material);

- Giovanni Romano, Verso la maniera moderna. Da Mantegna a Raffaello, in Storia dell’arte italiana, II, Dal Medioevo al Novecento, 6, Dal Cinquecento all’Ottocento, I. Cinquecento e Seicento, a cura di Federico Zeri, Einaudi, Torino, 1981 (cf. Teaching material); 

- André Chastel, Il Sacco di Roma (1527), Einaudi, Torino 1983;

- Giovanni Previtali, La pittura del Cinquecento a Napoli e nel Vicereame, Einaudi, Torino 1978;

- Giuliano Briganti, La maniera italiana, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1961; ried. Sansoni, Firenze 1985;

- Antonio Pinelli, La bella maniera. Artisti del Cinquecento tra regola e licenza, Einaudi, Torino 1993;

- Federico Zeri, Pittura e Controriforma. L'arte ‘senza tempo' di Scipione da Gaeta, Einaudi, Torino 1957 (and more recent editions);

- Silvia Ginzburg Carignani, La Galleria Farnese. Gli affreschi dei Carracci, Electa, Milano 2008;

- Roberto Longhi, Studi caravaggeschi, con una premessa di Mina Gregori, Abscondita, Milano 2017;

- Francesco Arcangeli, Corpo, azione, sentimento, fantasia. Naturalismo ed espressionismo nella cultura artistica emiliano-bolognese: lezioni 1967-1970, ed. by Vanessa Pietrantonio, with an introduction by Vera Fortunati, Il mulino, Bologna 2015, 2 voll. (in part. vol. II, pp. 9-154);

- Cesare Gnudi, introductory essay to the exhibition catalog L'ideale classico del Seicento in Italia e la pittura di paesaggio, Alfa, Bologna, 1962, pp. 3-37 (ripubblicato in Cesare Gnudi, L'ideale classico, Nuova Alfa Ed., Bologna 1986, pp. 55-85);

- Giuliano Briganti, Pietro da Cortona, Sansoni, Firenze 1962 (cf. Teaching material);

- Tomaso Montanari, Il Barocco, Einaudi, Torino 2012;

- Francis Haskell, Mecenati e pittori. L'arte e la società italiane nell'età barocca, 3.a ed., Allemandi, Torino 2000;

- Liliana Barroero, Le Arti e i Lumi. Pittura e scultura da Piranesi a Canova, Einaudi, Torino 2011;

- Anna Ottani Cavina, Terre senz’ombra. L'Italia dipinta, Adelphi, Milano 2015.

Other books, in relation to the particular interests of the candidates, may be agreed with prof. Daniele Benati.

Teaching methods

The course will be composed by lectures and visits lead by teachers Benati and Graziani to monuments and museums.

A few seminars are scheduled. Further information will be given in the early lectures. The attendance may replace point 1/b.

Assessment methods

Students will be assessed by means of an oral examination in which the candidate is required to engage in critical analysis based on the course reading.

Evaluation

Evaluation of the oral examination will follow the usual principle of judging excellence to mean evidence of a solid artistic and historical grounding and of a mature critical awareness.

During the oral examination, students must demonstrate to have acquired a critical understanding of the topics discussed during the course and a critical knowledge of the recommended bibliography.

After completing the course the student will be able:

• To know the features of artwork in early modern period

• Identify and analyze the most significant works

• Develop personal reflections

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the various issues discussed

• Use correct terminology

The achievement of a comprehensive vision of the issues, the possession of a specific language, the originality of the reflection as well as familiarity with artwork analysis tools will be evaluated with marks of excellence. Knowledge mostly mechanical or mnemonic of matter, a capacity of synthesis and analysis articulated or not, a use of proper language but not always appropriate, as well as a school domain of the arguments of the course will lead to fair valuations. Training gaps or use inappropriate language, as well as a lack of knowledge of the arguments will lead to votes that will amount on the sufficiency threshold. Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliography and inability to analyze will be evaluated negatively.

The assessment procedure is the same for students who attend or do not attend lectures.

Teaching tools

Lectures with the aid of .ppt presentations, visits, class exercises.

Office hours

See the website of Daniele Benati

See the website of Irene Graziani