Art History

This course examines the relationship between Northern European and Italian Renaissance pictorial cultures with particular reference to Dürer's exposure to and adaptation of Italian art and ideas. A comprehensive survey of Dürer's prints, drawings and paintings will form the main visual material, together with the work of selected earlier German artists and of Dürer's German and Italian contemporaries. The course poses the question of what the Renaissance means in the North, of what is involved in the importation of one culture into another, and it examines the validity of the terms Late Gothic and Renaissance and of notions of artistic progress based on the use of such terms.

This course deals with masterpieces of Japanese visual art from ancient times to the contemporary period. It aims to explain their meaning, expression, material, and technique, guiding students to obtain basic knowledge and skill to appreciate and understand essential works of Japanese art.

This course explores the relationship between the natural world and United States culture, considering specifically the visual expression of that relationship: How have Americans imagined “nature” and represented it? How have concepts of land and landscape shaped perceptions about social order, identity, and sustainability? The course provides both a historical framework for thinking about these questions as well as a contemporary perspective, particularly in the context of a potential new era known as the “Anthropocene.” 

From the study of monuments to the archeology of buildings, this course provides an up-to-date view of the specific investigative methods applied to ancient monuments that have developed over the past few decades. These will be the subject of a broad historical perspective, methodological initiation, and practical approaches. The course builds skills that any art historian required to study architectural works must have today: knowing and understanding the history of monumental studies and the evolution of their methods, up to the implementation of building archeology in its various facets, and creating an aptitude to go beyond disciplinary limits to consider collaborations with neighboring disciplines (Archaeology, Archaeometry, History). 

This course introduces and examines London's internationally-significant museum and gallery collections from a critical and global perspective. Exploring the politics of collecting and display, it engages with contemporary art historical and curatorial debates via the realities of institutions and their collections - and the inherent tensions therein. Major cultural institutions and their collections are examined, including the national gallery, Tate, and the British Museum, where issues of the representation of gender, the depictions of people of color, decolonization and repatriation are discussed and debated. Current debates surrounding museum and gallery ethics (for example ongoing debates regarding the Elgin/Parthenon Marbles and Benin Bronzes) are explored and contextualized in relation to contemporary social justice movements.

The goal of this workshop is to give students a firm grounding in cultural, social, historical, and practical aspects of art in contemporary Japan through diverse activities including workshops, field trips and research.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course offers basic knowledge of the methodologies and of the perspectives of near eastern art history and the reading of symbolism embedded in the material record. The course examines how to recognize and critically examine visual materials, and fine tune the critical tools needed for interpreting ancient visual communication. The course explores elements on sculptural complexes of the Bronze and Iron age in Syria and South-East Anatolia with particular reference to visual communication and architectural settings. Several contexts are analyzed according to a critical approach which are discussed together with the students also through the main scientific references on the relevant subjects. The course discusses sculptural complexes of the Bronze and Iron age in Syria and South-East Anatolia: visual communication and architectural settings.

This course examines chapters from 19th and 20th century art history with a goal of gaining an understanding of the period, while learning about artists and movements. It introduces key ideas such as Expressionism and Abstraction with the emphasis on the networks of artists and art supporters (curators, sponsors, publishers) that developed them. Careful consideration is given to the political, cultural contexts and general circumstances that formed the cultural production by the artists discussed.

This course is a challenging introductory course and is for non-History of Art students. It examines modern and contemporary art focusing on objects in London's galleries and museums. The content of this course changes each year, but it introduces students to key issues and themes in British, European, and North American art from the mid-19th century through to the present day, by focusing on works in institutions such as Tate Britain and Tate Modern as well as smaller contemporary galleries such as The Whitechapel.

This course examines Dada and Surrealism, two hugely influential international art movements of the 20th century, and focuses not only on the links between them in terms of their membership and artistic concerns, but also on establishing key differences in their approaches to social and political change and their ideological and philosophic positions. The course includes the study of a diverse range of Dada and Surrealist practices including: collage and photomontage; literary texts and publishing; chance and found objects; live performance; film; and photography.