AHT1101 · Renaissance to romanticism

Overview

This unit introduces you to the history of art from the Renaissance to Romanticism. Key historical and theoretical topics from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries will be explored, such as: the rise of the artist and the emergence of new subjects, mediums and techniques of art during the Renaissance; the emphasis in Baroque art on spectacle and spirituality; the globalisation of Renaissance and Baroque art; the tradition of Neoclassicism from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century; genre and still-life painting; art as politics and social commentary; the emergence of landscape and the philosophy of the picturesque and the sublime; the eroticism and escapism of Rococo; and the phenomenon of Romanticism. The unit will develop your ability to engage critically with the history, theory and historiography of art. Recent research and current topics of debate will be emphasised in seminars, tutorials and readings.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Identify the distinctive characteristics of art from the Renaissance to Romanticism;
2. Conduct informed analyses of works of art using appropriate art-historical vocabulary and methods;
3. Describe key aesthetic, philosophical and historiographical concepts in visual and material culture from the Renaissance to Romanticism;
4. Examine how historical artists and audiences shaped, interpreted and valued art;
5. Critically engage with the historical and contemporary literature of art history;
6. Critically engage with historical and contemporary literature to develop independent art-historical research and interpretation.

Workload

12 hours per week including 3 contact hours plus 9 hours of independent study, or equivalent.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.