UALR - ARHA 4310: Florence, the City & its Art


Dr. Jane H. Brown Office: FA 262 jhbrown@ualr.edu		Hours: MW 8:30-9:30 and by appointment (569-3145)
Syllabus	Schedule	Bibliography
Guidelines for Oral Presentations	Guidelines for Writing Papers	Research Paper Strategies
Hartt Article Study Guide	Trexler Article Study Guide	Electronic Resources

Schedule: Topics and Readings

Required texts:

Gene Brucker, Renaissance Florence, U. of California Press, 1983.
H. Richard Turner, Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art, Prentice Hall/Abrams, 2007.
Evelyn Welch, Art in Renaissance Italy, Oxford University Press, 2001.

All other titles noted below are on reserve in Ottenheimer Library. See the Selected Bibliography for this course.

Italicized and recommended selections are required for graduate students.

• Indicates an article that will be discussed in class. Students will follow specific study guides for each article and write a one to two page summary analysis.

** Indicates student report topics. Each class member will read the designated assignments ; the presenter will also read any other material specified for that date as well as develop their own bibliography. This more extensive bibliography will be what you hand out to class members on the day you lecture.

Part I: General information

Th Aug 21	Introduction to the course
T Aug 26	Orientation to the city: streets, walls, gates, bridges, neighborhoods. Brucker, Ch. 1; Turner, Introduction and Ch. 1; Borsook, Introduction: the 'New Athens on the Arno.'
Th Aug 28	Political, economic and social background for the Florentine city-state Brucker, Ch. 4 (Chs. 2 and 3 recommended).
T Sept 2	Religious life in late medieval/early Renaissance Florence Brucker, Ch. 5, Welch, Ch 6.

Part II: The Trecento

Sign up for presentation topic by September 4

Th Sept 4	The religious core of the city: the Duomo complex Teresa Frisch, ed., Gothic Art, 1140-c. 1450, 'The Tuscan City-States During a Century of Self-Determination', 69-78. Borsook, Ch. 3, Piazza del Duomo: 'Piu bello che si pu˜.'
T Sept 9	The civic core of the city: Palazzo Vecchio and environs Borsook, Ch. 2, Piazza della Signoria: 'Firenze bizzarra.'
Th Sept 11	The civic and religious intersection: Orsanmichele and its miracle images Nancy R. Fabbri and Nina Rutenburg, 'The Tabernacle of Orsanmichele in Context,' Art Bulletin, 63 (1981), 385-405. Borsook, Orsanmichele, pp 168-170.
T Sept 16	Tradition and innovation in the visual arts in 13th and 14th century Tuscany Recommended: Cole, Giotto, Ch. I-III Thesis statement, preliminary outline and preliminary bibliography for research project due
Th Sept 18	The meaning of religious images in late medieval/early Renaissance Florence, and the social context of objects Welch, Ch. 5 •R. Trexler, 'Florentine Religious Experience: The Sacred Image', Studies in the Renaissance, 19 (1972), 7-41. Summary analysis for Trexler article is due
T Sept 23	Conferences with Dr. Brown
Th 25	Work on research topics/no class
T Sept 30	The world of the Florentine artist: training, materials and patrons Turner, Ch. 2 Welch, Chs. 2, 3, & 4
Th Oct 2	Giotto at Sta. Croce, F. Hartt, Italian Renaissance Art, Ch. 3
T Oct 7	Sta. Maria Novella, Orcagna and painting after the Black Death M. Meiss, Painting in Florence and Siena After the Black Death, 3-26.
Th Oct 9	Andrea da Firenze and the Spanish Chapel: style, iconography and patronage
T October 14	Mid-term exam

Part III: Quattrocento Florence

Th Oct 16	Introduction to Quattrocento Florence • F. Hartt, “Art and Freedom in Quattrocento Florence”, reprinted in Modern Perspectives in Western Art History, ed. W. Eugene Kleinbauer, 293-311. Summary analysis for Hartt article is due
TOct 21	** The Baptistery Doors, the Opera del Duomo responsibility, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti competition, Ghiberti’s doors H. Acton and E. Chaney, two views on the competition, selection from Florence, a Travelers’ Companion, 66-69, xerox on reserve in Slide Library Presenter: K. Clark, The Florence Baptistery Doors
Th Oct 23	** Orsanmichele, the guilds, and Ghiberti’s commissions Turner, Ch. 3 Presenter: R. Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti L. Taylor-Mitchell, "Images of St. Matthew Commissioned by the Arte del Cambio for Orsanmichele in Florence: Some Observations on Conservatism in Form and Patronage", Gesta, XXX/1 (1992), 54-72.
T Oct 28	** Orsanmichele, Donatello’s and Nanni di Banco’s commissions (Two people could cooperate to present this material) Presenter: F. Hartt, Italian Renaissance Art, 173-179; J. Shearman, Only Connect . . . Art and the Spectator in the Italian Renaissance
Th Oct 30	** The Opera del Duomo, the competition for the dome and Brunelleschi’s project Turner, Ch. 4. A. Acton and E. Chaney, Brunelleschi’s plan in Florence, a Travelers’ Companion, 87-90; xerox on reserve in Slide Library Presenter: E. Battisti, Brunelleschi; G. Scaglia, “Building the Cathedral in Florence”, Scientific American, Jan., 1991, 66-72.
T Nov 4	** Brunelleschi’s new style: Expositions at the Foundling Hospital and the Pazzi Chapel Presenter: E. Battisti, Brunelleschi P. Barolsky, “Towards an Interpretation of the Pazzi Chapel, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 32 (1977), 228-231 (JHB has copy).
Th Nov 6	** Renaissance Davids: Meanings and Contexts for Donatello’s, Verrochio’s, and Michelangelo’s sculptures Turner, Ch. 7 Hartt, Italian Renaissance Art, 173-174, 245-246, 325-326, 465-468
T Nov 11	** Baptistery and Duomo (again): The Gates of Paradise Presenter: Clark, The Florentine Baptistery Doors Krautheimer, Lorenzo Ghiberti T 18 Painting in early Quattrocento Florence Turner, Ch. 5
Th Nov 13	Painting in Early Quattrocento Florence Turner, Ch 5
T Nov 18	** The New Painting: Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel Presenter: Cole, Masaccio C. Carman, “Masaccio’s Tribute Money: An Early Reflection on the Dignity of Man”, Source, 8, Fall 1988, 7-12. (JHB has copy.)
Th Nov 20	** Masaccio’s Trinity in SMN and the new Perspective Presenter: R. Goffen, Masaccio’s Trinity
T Nov 25	** Fra Angelico and San Marco Turner, Ch. 6, 116-122 Presenter: W. Hood, “St. Dominic’s Manners of Praying: Gestures in Fra Angelico’s Frescoes at San Marco”, Art Bulletin, June 1986, 195-206; W. Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco.
T Dec 2	** The Florentine Villa and Art in the Domestic Environment Turner, Ch. 6; Welch, Ch. 9 Presenter: A. Barriault, Spalliera Paintings of Renaissance Tuscany. B. R. Goldthwaite, The Building of Renaissance Florence.
Th Dec 4	Memorializing Fame: Tombs and other Monuments

Papers due last day of class, December 4.

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