Scope
the massive cathedrals and exquisite sculpture of the French Gothic style.
Despite its former reputation, this was a period of great creativity and provides
a necessary background to our extensive consideration of the achievements
of the Renaissance that followed. We will spend a signi¿ cant amount of time,
Lectures Eleven through Twenty-Seven, examining the early development
and the blossoming of the Renaissance in both Italy and the north. The
Renaissance was both a rebirth of interest in Classical literature and art and
a revival of interest in learning that, together, led to a reevaluation of man’s
place in the world. We will discuss the place of Humanism and Neo-Platonic
philosophy in the Renaissance—both of which were reÀ ected in different
styles in art of the period. We will note how the conceptual advances of the
time, beginning with Giotto’s approach to the illusionistic creation of space,
led to a revolution in the expressive possibilities of narrative art. We’ll trace
this accomplishment through the works of some of the greatest artists in
history, from Masaccio and Donatello, at the outset of the 15th century, to
the acknowledged geniuses of the High Renaissance, including Leonardo,
Michelangelo, Raphael, Bellini, and Titian. We’ll also discuss the tremendous
innovations in Renaissance architecture, from Brunelleschi’s dome for the
cathedral in Florence to the creation of the new Basilica of St. Peter’s in
Rome in the High Renaissance. We will also address the Renaissance in
the north, with considerations of the art of Jan van Eyck, Dürer, Bosch, and
Bruegel, among many other important masters.In Lectures Twenty-Eight through Thirty-Eight, we’ll commence with a
discussion of the evolution of Baroque style in the art of Caravaggio and
the Bolognese Carracci family. We’ll spend a substantial amount of time
examining the presiding genius of the time in Rome, the sculptor and
architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. We’ll continue from Italy to a broader view
of European Baroque art, from Velázquez in Spain to Rubens and Rembrandt
in the Netherlands, to Versailles and the court of Louis XIV in France. Not
only will we discuss the major masters of the era, but we’ll spend time on
many of the extraordinary yet lesser known geniuses of the period. I’ll then
discuss the 18th-century reactions to the Baroque by introducing the Rococo
style of Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard. It is at this time that we will
see the nations of Europe becoming increasingly politically and culturally
uni¿ ed, sharing an artistic language expressed in the varying accents of Italy,
Spain, Holland, Belgium, and France.