Learning outcomes

The course intends to illusstrate the rapports between the foremost artistic centres in europe, between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. This will be done on the basis of four great themes: the fifteenth century in Flanders, Europe of the princely courts, the seventeenth century in the Netherlands, and the transformations of the eighteenth century. Among the artists whose works will be analyzed we may mention Jan van Eyck, Antonello da Messina, Albrecht Durer, Raphael, Parmigianino, Giulio Romano, Pieter Brueghel, Jan van Goyen, Jan Steen, G. B. Tiepolo, J. L. David and many others

Program

The programme consists of a lecture series, combined with one or two day excursions, to cities in the Veneto area.
Each theme will be treated in three or four lectures.
1.Fifteenth-century Flanders, the so-called "ars nova" of Jan van Eyck. It will be shown how Jan van Eyck's realism has conditioned in a decisive way art development in europe, from Germany to France, to Spain, to Italy.
2.Europe of the courts. Raphael's classicism becomes, from the early sixteenth century onwards, the preferred artistic language of the international art of the european princely courts, from Italy to France, to the courts of the Habsburg.
3.Netherlandish seventeenth-century art, which is characterized by a new realism and a new set of artistic genres. This painterly art dominates a large part of the art market, both North and South of the Alps.
4.New themes and a new relationship with the spectator are being proposed in the arts of the mid-eighteenth century. This will be illustrated with some specific exmamples.

Examination Methods

The exam will be, depending on the number of students, a written exam.