AH 372 - Italian and Northern Renaissance and Baroque Painting

This course provides a critical account of Renaissance and Baroque painting north and south of the Alps, with a special emphasis on works housed in Viennese collections. The purpose of the course is not only to provide an overview of Renaissance and Baroque art, but also to compare how key themes develop in different areas. Some of these themes are related to genres: altarpieces, prints, portraits, private devotional images, narrative painting, and popular imagery, all of which have versions that appear in both north and south but differ in their forms. In accounting for those differences, we consider the different social, political, and institutional
contexts surrounding the art in each place. In this light, religious and political structures; class and social divisions; differing notions of identity and authority; relationship to intellectual culture; and varieties of patronage will all become key themes. Because Vienna offers a unique opportunity to see the great works of both northern and southern Renaissance and Baroque art collected in one place, we will make active use of the city’s collections. This will include visits to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, the Albertina, and local churches to talk about paintings students will be studying in class. Museum and site visits,
key components of this class, offer the incomparable possibility of seeing works of art in person.