78168 - Medieval and Modern Architecture (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Visual Arts (cod. 9071)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student acquires necessary knowledge to read and critically interpret the medieval and modern architecture. In particular, the student has the methodological tools for the historical and critical understanding of the territory, the city and its major architectures.

Course contents

Nov.14 - Lesson one:

Introduction and organization. The rediscovery of the Antiquity. The swerve to a new world

Nov. 15 - Lesson two:

The architectural orders and the classical language of architecture

Bibliography:

· C. Thoenes, Gli ordini architettonici, rinascita o invenzione?, in Roma e l’antico nell’arte e nella cultura del Cinquecento, a cura di M. Fagiolo, Roma: Biblioteca internazionale di cultura 1985, pp. 261-271 (PDF uploaded on IOL)

Nov. 16 - Lesson three:

Tradition and Innovation: Filippo Brunelleschi

Bibliography:

· L. Heydenreich, Brunelleschi, in Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, edited by P. Davies, New Haven & London: Yale University Press 1996, pp. 13-33.

· Id., Florence 1450-1480, in ibidem, pp. 45-54.

· A. Bruschi, Brunelleschi e la nuova architettura fiorentina, in Storia dell’architettura italiana, cit., pp. 38-106.

Nov. 21 - Lesson four:

Architecture and Theory: Leon Battista Alberti

Bibliography:

o H. Burns, Leon Battista Alberti, in Storia dell’architettura italiana, cit., pp. 114-165.

Nov. 22 - Lesson five:

Sienna, Pienza, Urbino and the work of Francesco di Giorgio Martini

Bibliography:

· L. Heydenreich, Urbino, in Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, cit., pp. 74-81.

· F.P. Fiore, Siena e Urbino, in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il Quattrocento, cit., pp. 272-313.

· N. Adams, Pienza, in ibidem, pp. 314-329.

Nov. 23 - NO CLASS!!!!

Nov. 28 - Lesson six:

Roma, From Paul II to Alexander VI, 1464-1503

Bibliography:

· C.L. Frommel, Roma, in Storia dell’Architettura italiana. Il Quattrocento, pp. 374-433.

· Bruschi, L’architettura a Roma negli ultimi anni del pontificato di Alessandro VI Borgia (1492-1503) e l’edilizia del primo Cinquecento, in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, a cura di A. Bruschi, Milano: Electa 2002, pp. 34-75.

Nov. 29 - Lesson seven:

Donato Bramante in Milan and Rome

Bibliography:

· W. Lotz, Edifici per Giulio II, in Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, a cura di D. Howard, Milano: Rizzoli 1997, pp. 13-23.

· C.L. Frommel, La città come opera d’arte: Bramante e Raffaello (1500-1520), in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, cit., pp. 99-131.

Nov. 30 - Lesson eight:

The post-bramantesque generation. Raphael and Giulio Romano

Bibliography:

· W. Lotz, Architettura classica a Roma: Raffaello, in Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, cit., pp. 27-34.

· W. Lotz, Giulio Romano, in Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, cit., pp. 76-82.

· C.L. Frommel, La città come opera d’arte: Bramante e Raffaello (1500-1520), in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, pp. 99-131.

Dec. 5 - Lesson nine:

The post-bramantesque generation. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Baldassarre Peruzzi

Bibliography:

· W. Lotz, Baldassarre Peruzzi e Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane, in Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, cit., pp. 44-51.

· F.P. Fiore, Roma, le diverse maniere, in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, pp. 132-136. 

Dec. 6 - Lesson ten:

The architecture of Michelangelo

· Bibliography:

· W. Lotz, Michelangelo, in Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, cit., pp. 89-106.

Dec. 7 - Lesson eleven:

Bologna, from the Bentivoglio Signoria to a Papal city

Bibliography:

· R. Tuttle, Bologna, in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il Quattrocento, cit., pp. 256-271.

· M. Ricci, Bologna e Carpi, in Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, cit., pp. 306-312.

Dec. 12 - Lesson twelve:

Walking tour around some significant bolognese architecture

Dec. 13 - Lesson thirteen

Venice, from Byzanthium to Rome

Bibliografia:

· M. Morresi, Venezia, in Storia dell’Architettura italiana. Il Quattrocento, cit., pp. 200-241

M. Morresi, Venezia. Il secolo breve, in Storia dell’Architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, cit., pp. 318-354.

Dec. 14 - Lesson fourteen:

Andrea Palladio

· Bibliography:

· W. Lotz, Andrea Palladio, in Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, cit., pp. 147-158.

Dec. 15 - Lesson fifteen

Conclusion

Readings/Bibliography

C. Thoenes, Gli ordini architettonici, rinascita o invenzione?, in Roma e l’antico nell’arte e nella cultura del Cinquecento, a cura di M. Fagiolo, Roma: Biblioteca internazionale di cultura 1985, pp. 261-271 (PDF consultabile su IOL)

L. Heydenreich, Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, edited by P. Davies, New Haven & London: Yale University Press 1996

Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il Quattrocento, a cura di F.P. Fiore, Milano Electa 1998

Storia dell’architettura italiana. Il primo Cinquecento, a cura di A. Bruschi, Milano: Electa 2002

W. Lotz, Architettura in Italia 1500-1600, a cura di D. Howard, Milano: Rizzoli 1997

Assessment methods

The final exam is an oral interview equal for both attending and non-attending students. The interview is based on the mandatory bibliography specified in the syllabus and seeks to verify the student’s critical and methodological skills acquired during the course. Non-attending students are required to write a 7/8 pages long paper on a topic included in the syllabus (but a different topic is also welcomed) to be approved by the instructor. The paper should be submitted in a PDF format no later than seven days before the exam.

During the interview the student must show the acquisition of the knowledge of main topics discussed in class as well as the mastering of the methods and critical tools acquired during the course. Pictures identifications of monuments (description, what it is, architect, date, location and why is important) and knowledge of the broader context are crucial requirements for the success of the exam.

For this reason, is strongly recommended a careful study of the iconographical material distributed class by class which can be also downloaded from the instructor’s website: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/f.benelli

Grade breakdown

1. 30L/28, the highest range of grade, is given when the student shows to be able to deeply, critically and creatively analyze the texts and the images and to put them in the broader context. Special attention is given to the articulation with which the student presents and delivers his ideas during the interview.

2. 24/27 is the range of grade given to the student that shows only a mnemonic knowledge of the material and delivers his interview with a fairly proper language at times inappropriate.

3. 18/23 is the range of grade that reflects a sufficient or superficial knowledge and critical understanding of the material.

4. Lower than 18: Lacunae

Teaching tools

Pdf texts and images of the illustrations showed in class. Additional bibliography when needed.

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Benelli