F0403 Art and Architecture in Renaissance Venice
This course is an introduction to Venetian Art and Architecture in the 15th and 16th centuries. Different aspects will be investigated (eg culture, politics, art and architecture) exploring their interaction. After having examined what historians call \"the Myth\" of Venice, and considered the institutions that gave shape to it, the course will concentrate on the various forms that such Myth took in art, in architecture and, on a larger scale, through urban strategies in the city\'s structure.
The course will begin by focusing on several sectors of the town. An analysis of its two major centers: the political and religious one, Piazza San Marco and the economic one, the Rialto, will be followed by an examination of minor catalyzing centers around which Venetian and foreign communities assembled such as: Scuole Grandi and Piccole, the German Fondaco and the Ghetto, manifestations of that mythical harmony between classes and of hospitality towards foreigners.
A selection of case studies - private and public buildings and their patrons - will be the starting point to develop various themes such as magnificence, ritual uses of public space, architecture and art, self representation of the State, and of the governing élite in its private palaces and chapels.
This approach will be carried out trying also to highlight how the peculiarity of Venice, and its complex heritage - since it considered itself a second Constantinople and a second Rome- influenced the way in which the \"new language\" of the Renaissance was introduced into town and evolved from the 15th to the 16th century, concentrating on concepts such as renovation and innovation, and tradition and interpretation of models.
Classes will be integrated by visits on site. Reading from the course pack is required for each session.
Aim of the course: to provide an outline account of Venetian Art and Architecture in the Renaissance and introduce the principal historical themes. The course also aims to encourage the student\'s awareness of the meanings of built space, and to provide the student with an intellectual vocabulary for the critical discussion of art and architecture.
The course will begin by focusing on several sectors of the town. An analysis of its two major centers: the political and religious one, Piazza San Marco and the economic one, the Rialto, will be followed by an examination of minor catalyzing centers around which Venetian and foreign communities assembled such as: Scuole Grandi and Piccole, the German Fondaco and the Ghetto, manifestations of that mythical harmony between classes and of hospitality towards foreigners.
A selection of case studies - private and public buildings and their patrons - will be the starting point to develop various themes such as magnificence, ritual uses of public space, architecture and art, self representation of the State, and of the governing élite in its private palaces and chapels.
This approach will be carried out trying also to highlight how the peculiarity of Venice, and its complex heritage - since it considered itself a second Constantinople and a second Rome- influenced the way in which the \"new language\" of the Renaissance was introduced into town and evolved from the 15th to the 16th century, concentrating on concepts such as renovation and innovation, and tradition and interpretation of models.
Classes will be integrated by visits on site. Reading from the course pack is required for each session.
Aim of the course: to provide an outline account of Venetian Art and Architecture in the Renaissance and introduce the principal historical themes. The course also aims to encourage the student\'s awareness of the meanings of built space, and to provide the student with an intellectual vocabulary for the critical discussion of art and architecture.
Syllabus
Evaluation
Readings
Evaluation
Readings