85186 - History of Artistic Literature

Learning outcomes

The course deals with the history of art histories, namely it allows the student to deepen the knowledge of what is discussed and diffused through the written form in the cultural and social environment of the artist, at different times, taking into account that every example of artistic literature is the result of a complex process of thought and is filtered by the dominant schools of thought. At the end of the course, the student achieves a good level of knowledge of the fundamental texts produced by artists, scholars and philosophers and acquires the indispensable tools for framing artistic production over time and in different places.

Course contents

The course will focus on the critical fortune of Raphael. The moments of his intellectual growth and his commitment as "inspector" for the historical city of Rome, with particular reference to the famous letter to pope Leo X, will be traced through the analysis of the contemporary sources. The reading of his work will be analyzed and critically discussed referring to the prose of Vasari, Bellori and Lanzi; to the nineteenth-century approach in the pages of Passavant, Cavalcaselle and Crowe up to the contemporary literature.

Selected pages of these texts will be read and commented during the lessons.

By this way, the students will be induced to critically reflect on the importance and use of ancient and modern art literature.

Readings/Bibliography

• G. VASARI, Rafael da Urbino. Pittore ed Architetto, in Le Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani..., p. III, Firenze 1550 (ed. consigliata a cura di L. Bellosi e A. Rossi, Einaudi, Torino 1991, vol. 2, pp. 610-641).
  
  
• O. ROSSI PINELLI, a cura di, La storia delle storie dell'arte,Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, Torino 2014, pp. 48 - 179, 398 - 490.

• C. BRANDI, Raffaello, pp. 5-11; E. GARIN, Raffaello e i filosofi antichi, pp. 15-25; S. RAY, Raffaello architetto. La costruzione dello spazio, pp. 133- 153; M. MENA MARQUES, Carlo Maratti e Raffaello, pp. 543-559; G. ARBORE POPESCU, Raffaello e la teoria artistica del Settecento, pp. 589-601; G. A. HIRSCHAUER, La fortuna di Raffaello in America nel XVIII e XIX secolo, pp. 801-826, in Raffaello e l'Europa, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato libreria dello Stato Roma 1990.
  
  
• F. P. DI TEODORO, La Lettera a Leone X, in Raffaello. 1520-1483, catalogo della mostra, Skira, 2020, pp. 69-75.

For non-attending people, the study of the text of O. ROSSI PINELLI mentioned in step 1 in its entirety is required.

 

Teaching methods

Lessons will be held remotely.

The lectures will be accompanied by visits to churches and museums that hold works that were the object of the observations of the intellectuals whose thought will be retraced.

This is within the limits of our country's current health emergency.

Assessment methods

Oral examination.

The learning will be verified through the oral interview alone, aimed at verifying the actual preparation of the student on the topics discussed in the lessons, on the scheduled texts, the critical skills gained during the study process and the methodology learned in relation to the investigation of ancient sources. Particularly, the student's ability will be evaluated to move - understand and comment - in the context of the relationship of written sources with the examined works of art.

The linguistic mastery of the discipline is required, both in the examination of the paintings that will be discussed and the artistic lexicon of the texts that will be examined during the lessons.

The interview will focus on what was discussed during the course and what the student learned with the independent study of the scheduled texts.

The mastery of the content, the appropriate expression and the appropriate language for the subject matter, as well as the ability to summarize and analyse the concepts discussed in the lesson, will be assessed.

The understanding of the issues related to the correct use of sources in relation to the reading of the work of art, the social and political history of the time of realization, the use of an appropriate lexicon will be evaluated with grades of excellence.

The only mnemonic knowledge of matter, the ability to synthesis and analysis not properly developed in an appropriate language will lead to discrete assessments.

Training gaps or lack of the appropriate lexicon, lack of knowledge of analysis tools and issues related to the use of direct and indirect sources will lead to sufficientness alone.

Poor knowledge of the scheduled texts, inadequate lexicon, lack of understanding of the criticality of the topic and will be evaluated negatively.

Teaching tools

Slides, PowerPoint presentations

Office hours

See the website of Donatella Biagi