11382 - History of Medieval Art

Learning outcomes

Classes will try to offer a general approach to history of medieval art from 5th to 15th century. Students are hoped to acquire on one side the abilities which are necessary for the knowledge of the artistic production of the period - attribution, and skill in the "reading" of the work - and on the other a conscious methodology. The last lessons will offer a more specific topic, as a research example.

Course contents

The course can be taken by the students of the different curricula of the 'laurea triennale'. The lessons will take place in the first semester, and will be divided in two parts (60 hours). The first section (A) will examine general problems connected with the subject, so to offer a help to organize better the personal study. It will based on two different topics. On one side we will face some methodological problems: the chronological definition of "Middle Age"; the difference between historical geography and art-historical geography; the materials; the relationships with Antiquity; the workshops of Medieval artists; and so on. On the other side we will consider the most important aspects of the artistic stream in Middle Age, from a more chronological point of view. The second section (B) will offer a more specific example of research; the title for this academic year will be "East and west".
I - Students must know the basic facts of art history in Italy from Late Antiquity to the first two decades of XV century, include Renaissance's first generation. The text book(s) can be chosen by the student from the handbooks ("manuali") in use in Italy, covering the period above mentioned; there is not one specific compulsory text.
II - Students are expected to read one of the following texts (or group of texts), here quoted in the italian editions: a – three studies from the volumes Arte e storia nel Medioevo, Torino 2002-05 b – J.J.G. Alexander, I miniatori medioevali e il loro metodo di lavoro, Modena 2004 c – M. Baxandall, Pittura ed esperienze sociali nell'Italia del Quattrocento, ed. it. Torino 1978 and later ed. d – M. Baxandall, Giotto e gli umanisti, ed. it. Milano 1994 e – M. Baxandall, Forme dell'intenzione, ed. it. Torino 2000 f – E. Castelnuovo (curator), Artifex bonus. Il mondo dell'artista medioevale, Bari 2004 g – H. Focillon, Vita delle forme, ed. it. Torino 1990 and previous ed. h – C. Ginzburg, Indagini su Piero, ed. Torino 1994 (only THIS edition) i – E. Panofsky, La prospettiva come “forma simbolica” e altri scritti, ed. it. Milano 1961 and later ed. l – E. Panofsky, Rinascimento e rinascenze nell'arte occidentale, ed. it. Milano 1971 and later ed. m – O. Pächt, La miniatura medioevale, ed. it. Torino 1987 n – J. Von Schlosser-Magnino, L'arte del Medioevo, ed. it. Torino 1989 n – A. Warburg, La rinascita del paganesimo antico, ed. it. Firenze 1966 and later ed. o – R. Wittkower, La scultura, ed. it. Torino 1985.
III - Students must study one topic for the second section (B), dedicated to the more specific topic of the relationships between East and West, whose bibliography will be published on this page ("testi")
IV - Students are also invited to know directly - that is, not through books or the net but FROM LIFE - at least one Medieval artwork: a church, a palace, a painting, a sculpture.
For more detailed infos about the lessons and the texts, and for all the problems connected with the different "value" of the course (12, 10, 6 or 5 credits) or with the system of assessment methods, you can contact the teacher by mail or in office hours. Erasmus and Overseas students can anyway obtain a personal bibliography, with a reduced (and-or different) list of texts (in the section III only personal notes for students who attended classes, just one book for those who did not); section I is anyway to be studied (even if the exam can be oral instead of written, if you prefer), so is the IV; one of the sections II and III can be substituted with a personal research, to be discussed during the exam (or, if you prefer, written and presented as a paper).
For 5 or 6 credits the program is the same you find for Italian students.

Readings/Bibliography

Testi/Bibliografia: see "programma" for I, II and IV. Texts in bold have been uploaded.
    •    a - Cardinal Bessarion between East and West
F. Lollini, texts on Bessarion and visual arts, and Bessarion's portrait, in Bessarione e l'Umanesimo, a cura di G. Fiaccadori, Napoli 1994, pp. 149-170 e pp. 275-283; F. Lollini, revised versione of the second text, in Bessarione, La natura delibera, La natura e l'arte, a cura di P.D. Accendere e I. Privitera, Milano 2014, pp. 261-294; students who will choose this topic are invited to prepare for the II part of the programme Ginzburg's book
    •    b - Examples from 'pre-modern' Roumenian painting
V. Georgescu, The Romanians - A History (Romanian Literature and Thought in Translation Series), ed. web 1991.pdf, limitatamente alle parti fornite; E. Negrău, Deësis in the Romanian Painting of the 14th-18th Centuries. Themes and Meanings, "Revista Theologică", 93, 2011, n. 2, pp. 64-81; and either A. Vasiliu, L'architettura dipinta, Milano 1998, or Ţara Bisericilor de piatrǎ . Haţeg. The land of stone churches, Bucureşti 2007
    •    c - Examples from Serbian painting
ONE from the following: S. Cirkovic, I Serbi nel Medioevo, Milano 1992; Tra le due sponde dell'Adriatico: la pittura nella Serbia del XIII secolo e l'Italia. Gli affreschi medievali della Serbia nelle copie della Galerija fresaka del Narodni Muzej di Belgrado e i rapporti con l'Italia, Ferrara 1999; Medioevo e Rinascimento in Kosovo. Monumenti ortodossi e ottomani sulle rive della Bistrica, a cura di C. Bertelli, Milano 2001; Il Ponte delle Immagini. Le vie bizantine della pittura murale dai monasteri ortodossi della Serbia ai cicli pittorici in Santa Croce, a cura di G De Micheli e P. Vojnovic, Firenze 2013; students who will choose this topic are warmly invited to read S. Anselmi, Storie di Adriatico, Bologna 1996
    •    d - The Holy Places in Jerusalem and the West
For everybody, M. Fanti, Sulla simbologia gerosolimitana del complesso di Santo Stefano di Bologna, in “Il Carrobbio”, 10, 1984, pp. 121-133. Then, one of the folowing: either (a) the material posted on line from the catalogue Le Crociate. L'Oriente e l'Occidente da Urbano II a San Luigi, 1096-1270, a cura di M. Rey-Delqué, catalogo della mostra, Milano 1997, or (b) the material posted on line from the catalogue Cavalieri. Dai Templari a Napoleone. Storie di crociati, soldati, cortigiani, a cura di A. Barbero e A Merlotti, catalogo della mostra, Milano 2009, or (c) G. Curzi, La pittura dei templari, Milano 2002, or (d) Monaci in armi : l'architettura sacra dei Templari attraverso il Mediterraneo: dal 1. Convegno I Templari e San Bernardo di Chiaravalle, a cura di G. Viti, A. Cadei, V. Ascani, Firenze 1996.
    •    e - Problems of book illumination between East and West
F. Lollini, Byzantine Cultures as Reflected in Miniature Painting and Italy: Presence and Stylistic References, in Manuscrise bizantine in colectii bucurestene - Byzantine Manuscripts in Bucharest's Collections, Bucuresti 2009, pp. 79-84, together with M. Medica, La città dei libri e dei miniatori, in Duecento. Forme e colori del Medioevo a Bologna, catalogo della mostra a cura di M. Medica, Venezia 2000, pp. 109-140
    •    f - Murat Palta
Murat Palta. Cult Hollywood Movies as Ottoman Miniatures, Faenza - Bagnacavallo 2014

Students w

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons. For the general section (I), some workshops and outdoor visits in museums and monuments will be also scheduled.

Assessment methods

Written test for (I), oral exam for (II), (III) and (IV) - see here "course contents". Students coming from other countries, and/or not of Italian mother-tongue (Erasmus, Overseas, and other exchanges) CAN (not MUST),  have an oral exam for all the sections.
The written test is a 10 image exam: you will be asked to precise as more as you can the stylistic situation (including date and area) of every image; 18+ will be admitted to the oral section of the exam; for other info, please ask. The oral section will cover the part II, III and IV of the program, and will be based on the readings and on the topics we will consider in classes.

Teaching tools

Slide projection or ppt during lessons.

Links to further information

http://www.dav.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Fabrizio Lollini