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Module Catalogue

HA2F1-30 The Renaissance: North and South

Department
SCAPVC - History of Art
Level
Undergraduate Level 2
Module leader
Marta Ajmar
Credit value
30
Module duration
10 weeks
Assessment
100% coursework
Study location
University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

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Introductory description

This long-view module intends to provide students with an overview of the evolution of the different arts (painting, sculpture, and architecture) in two different geographical areas: the Italian city-states (especially but not exclusively Florence) and Northern Europe.

Module aims

This module focuses on the movement of art and artists between Italy (especially but not exclusively Florence) and the Low Countries and Germany from c. 1400 to c. 1550. Students will consider a variety of products such as oil paintings, tapestries and marble sculptures and the factors behind exchange, trade and gifts. Students will debate the traditional narrative of the Renaissance and challenge the tendency to view artistic influence in one direction, questioning the extent to which artists like Michelangelo can be understood as isolated instances of genius. Aspects such as historical context, issues of patronage, diverging iconographies and diverse mediums will also be examined. We will discuss the development of the arts in the major Northern and Southern centres, from the Burgundian Netherlands, to the German Empire and the Italian pensinsula. Artists studied will include: Claus Sluter, Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Jean Foquet, Enguerrand Quarton, and Hieronymus Bosch; Masaccio, Donatello, Piero della Francesca, Antonello da Messina, Sandro Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael; Lucas Cranach, Tilman Riemenschneider, Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald, Albrecht Altdorfer, Hans Baldung Grien, and Hans Holbein.

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.

Background: Northern and Italian Renaissance.
Artistic techniques (painting and sculpture).
Court culture: Burgundy vs. Medici.
Merchants between North and South.
Markets: Bruges and Florence.
Portraiture: North and South.
Devotion: North and South.
Northern vs. Italian altarpieces.
Symbols and meanings.

Learning outcomes

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

  • Understand the artistic, religious and social contexts in which the artists of the Northern and Italian Renaissance worked.
  • Understand the artistic, religious and social contexts in which the artists of the Northern and Italian Renaissance worked.
  • Understand the artistic, religious and social contexts in which the artists of the Northern and Italian Renaissance worked.
  • Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
  • 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
  • Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
  • Ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
  • Ability to formulate a sustained argument
  • Think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
  • Employ sophisticated conceptual and visual analysis
  • Demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
  • Produce critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Indicative reading list

F. Ames-Lewis (ed.), Florence (Cambridge, 2012)
J. Chipps Smith, The Northern Renaissance (London, 2004)
J. Dunkerton, S. Foister, D. Gordon, N. Penny, Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National
Gallery (New Haven and London, 1991)
L. Kaborycha, A Short History of Renaissance Italy (New York, 2011)
B. G. Lane, The Altar and the Altarpiece: Sacramental Themes in Early Netherlandish Painting (New York,
1984)
S. Nash, Northern Renaissance Art (Oxford, 2008)
J. Snyder, Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575 (Englewood
Cliffs and New York, 1985)

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

  • Understand the artistic, religious and social contexts in which the artists of the Northern and Italian Renaissance worked.
  • Compare and contrast the types of meanings which art works embodied.
  • Understand the role of patrons and audiences.
  • Employ sophisticated conceptual and visual analysis
  • Produce critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context

Transferable skills

  • initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
  • 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
  • show understanding of diverse viewpoints
  • ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
  • ability to formulate a sustained argument
  • think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
  • Demonstrate bibliographical skills at an appropriate level

Study time

Type Required
Seminars 20 sessions of 2 hours (13%)
External visits 1 session of 2 hours (1%)
Private study 258 hours (86%)
Total 300 hours

Private study description

Required and recommended reading for seminar presentations, research for written assessments and revision for examinations.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A2
Weighting Study time Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Anthology 60% No

3000 word anthology
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
Slide Test 30% No

Image comparison test
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
Engagement 10% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Feedback on assessment

Written feedback and dedicated feedback tutorials.

Courses

This module is Core optional for:

  • Year 2 of UHAA-V401 Undergraduate History of Art

This module is Option list A for:

  • Year 1 of THAA-V4P3 History of Art (Diploma)

This module is Option list B for:

  • Year 1 of UHAA-V41P Undergraduate History of Art

This module is Option list D for:

  • Year 2 of UHAA-V3R1 Undergraduate History of Art and French