Course description
The course guides the students in the acquaintance of major topics and protagonists of Venetian Renaissance. It examines the evolution and development of Venetian Art and Architecture from the late XV century to the beginning of the XVII century, focusing on a selection of issues, episodes and artists. Emphasis will be given to the rediscovery, use and interpretation of classical models of Roman and Greek tradition in all fields of Renaissance culture, examining the peculiar approach of Venetian culture to antiquity between Rome and Byzantium. Attention will also be given to the Renaissance interventions on the city and the lagoon environment and the inextricable relationship between politics, religion, art and architecture that produced the manifold languages through which Venetian Renaissance expressed itself.
The course’s objectives are to provide methods to analyse Renaissance works of art in their form, meaning and visual symbolism; to relate artworks and buildings to their historical background and context; to understand artistic views and intentions; to be able to recognize the major social and historical forces which influenced Renaissance Art in Italy and in Venice through the analysis of Italian and Venetian intellectual, social, economic and political history; to build a “language of observation”: a proper visual vocabulary to adequately understand and describe artworks; to improve the critical approach to reading, talking and writing on Architecture and Art history.

In-class lectures are given with the support of powerpoint slides, with allotted time for discussion, while on-site lectures involve visiting specific buildings and sites within Venice. Students are particularly encouraged to engage in discussion at the end of the lessons, with reference to their respective individual academic background.

Evaluation
40% attendance and participation to lessons, visits, and in-class discussion.
60% final written paper and presentation.

Syllabus

Week 1 (26/02-1/03) intro
1. Introduction: Venice and the Renaissance: Chronology and Historical Coordinates
2. The image of Venice in 1500. Jacopo de Barbari's View.

Week 2 (4/3 – 8/3)
3. Venice and Myth of the Origins
4. An underwater forest: Venetian building techniques.

Week 3 (11/3-15/3)
5. The Palazzo in the Renaissance: from Palazzo Vendramin Calergi to Ca’ Corner
6. On-site lecture: the Canal Grande

Week 4 (18/3-22/3)
7. Carpaccio, Bellini and painted architecture
8. On site lecture. Santa Maria Formosa and Santa Maria dei Miracoli

Week 5 (25/3-29/3)
9. On-site lecture: visit to Palazzo Grimani
10. The architectural Treatises: Vitruvio, Fra’ Giocondo, Serlio, Palladio

Midterm (2/4 – 5/4)

Week 6 (8/4 – 12/4)
11. On-site lecture: San Giorgio dei Greci, The Scuola degli Schiavoni, la Bragora
12. From Gold to Blue: the Renaissance Revolution of Art

Week 7 (15/4 – 19/4)
13. Titian from the Venus of Dresden to the Ariadne of the Andrians
14. On-site lecture: Visit to San Zaccaria and San Francesco della Vigna

Week 8 (22/4 – 26/4)
15. Scuole grandi: art and architecture of Renaissance charity
16. On-site lecture. Visit to the Scuola Grande di San Marco and Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Week 9 (29/4 – 3/5)

17. Venice & Antiquity: from Rome to Byzantium to Athens
18. On-site lecture: Visit to Palazzo Ducale

Week 10(13/5 – 17/5)
19. Architects and engineers: Bridge-building in Venice from wood to stone.
20: On-site lecture: The Rialto Bridge and Market

Week 11 (6/5 – 10/5)
21. From Rome to Venice: Jacopo Sansovino and the building of a new city
22. On-site lecture: Piazza San Marco

Week 12 (20/5 – 24/5)
23: Andrea Palladio and Venice: a conflictual relationship
24: On-site lecture: Giudecca: the Redentore Church and San Giorgio

Date to be decided:
Visit to Andrea Palladio in Vicenza (Palladio Museum, Basilica, Teatro Olimpico)

General Readings
For an overview of Italian Renaissance art | Geraldine Johnson. Renaissance art. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
For an overview of Venice Art and architecture | Giulia Foscari, Elements of Venice; foreword by Rem Koolhaas, Zurich: Lars Muller, 2014
On architecture of Renaissance Venice: Manfredo Tafuri | Venice and the Renaissance, translated by Jessica Levine, Cambridge MA: MIT, 1989, chapters 4,5 and 7, pp. 81-138, 161-196.
On history of Venetian architecture | Deborah Howard, The architectural history of Venice, New Haven - London : Yale University Press, 2017, chapters 5 and 6, pp. 117-189.
On history of Venetian painting | Peter Humfrey: Painting in Renaissance Venice, New Haven: Yale University Press, c1995

Reading assignments on specific topics and further suggested readings will be given during lessons.

Last updated: January 23, 2024