| Description: | The course deals with early Christian and Medieval art, and its political, social and cultural implications. We will discuss the following topics: the origins of Christian art; Carolingian art; proto-Romanesque art; the development of Romanesque art in Europe; classicism in Florentine Romanesque art; and the Gothic style in architecture and sculpture. The course will also include a detailed study of Italian Gothic painting: the school of Siena; the school of Florence, as well as Giotto's works. The particular Florentine experience during the Gothic period and the social, political, economic, and cultural implications that form the background of Renaissance civilization will be considered. The main purpose of this course is a better understanding of art in the Middle Ages, keeping in mind that classicism was still alive in certain areas during the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance monuments will be visited in order to understand the transition, either linked to or in contrast with the previous styles. |