Introductory description

The module is formed by a series of lectures and related seminars that address the intertwined themes of Classicism and Christianity. The module will provide a historical survey of western art concentrating on late antique, medieval and Renaissance art, periods with which our first year students are often unfamiliar. The lectures follow a broadly chronological sweep, while the related seminars will concentrate on issues of technique, terminology and iconography.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Introduction: Origins and overview
Classical architecture
The Emperor and the Gods
The human form
Painting and Pompeii
Byzantium
The Christian west
The Italian city-states
The great cathedrals
Renaissance architecture (Italy)
Reading Week
Renaissance painting (Italy)
The northern Renaissance
Renaissance sculpture (Italy)
Collecting antiquity
Disegno and the grand manner
The art of the book
Reform and Counter-Reform
Vasari and art as history

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of key images and monuments and key developments in western art from antiquity to c.1600.
• Identify and discuss the material and techniques used by artists/architects etc.
• Demonstrate familiarity with a range of analytical tools to engage with more specialised, period- or genre-specific courses in the second year.
• With guidance, the ability to gather, select, organise and synthesise visual and textual information.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others.
• Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate.
• Demonstrate academic skills: ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level.
• Familiarity with essential ICT skills.
• Demonstrate understanding of historical context and evidence.
• Think conceptually and critically.
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints.
• Ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
• Ability to formulate a sustained argument.
• Demonstrate visual literacy.
• Demonstrate critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context.
• Demonstrate bibliographical and other academic skills.

Indicative reading list

David Bomford et al, Art in the Making: Italian Painting before 1400 (London: National Gallery Publications, 1989)
Robin Cormack, Byzantine Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
Michael Camille, Gothic Art: Visions and Revelations of the Medieval World (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1996)
Nicola Coldstream, Medieval Architecture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
Jill Dunkerton et al, Giotto to Durer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale University Press and National Gallery Publications, 1991)
Jas Elsner, Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: The Art of the Roman Empire, AD 100-450 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Craig Harbison, The Art of the Northern Renaissance (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1995)
Thomas Matthews, The Art of Byzantium: Between Antiquity and the Renaissance (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1998)
Lawrence Nees, Early Medieval Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
John Shearman, Mannerism (London: Penguin, 1967)
Evelyn Welch, Art in Renaissance Italy, 1350-1500 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)

Research element

Completion of Art Historical Study Skills course run concurrently with this module

Subject specific skills

• Demonstrate understanding of key images and monuments and key developments in western art from antiquity to c.1600.
• Identify and discuss the material and techniques used by artists/architects etc.
• Demonstrate familiarity with a range of analytical tools to engage with more specialised, period- or genre-specific courses in the second year.
• Demonstrate visual literacy.
• Demonstrate critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context.

Transferable skills

• With guidance, the ability to gather, select, organise and synthesise visual and textual information.
• Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate.
• Demonstrate academic skills: ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level.
• Familiarity with essential ICT skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others.
• Demonstrate understanding of historical context and evidence.
• Think conceptually and critically.
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints.
• Ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence.
• Ability to formulate a sustained argument.
• Demonstrate bibliographical and other academic skills.