A&H 317 Rome and the Classical Tradition

Content

This course explores the art and culture of classical Rome as well as its legacy and continued influence in medieval and modern times. An overview of the major developments in the art of Roman antiquity is offered and the key monuments of the period are introduced. The course also explores their enduring contemporary relevance – what the Germans call their Nachleben. How did men and women of later times see, understand, and interpret the rich heritage of Roman culture? What did sculptures like the Laocoön Group or buildings like the Pantheon mean to them and what did they do with these monuments? In what way has the assimilation of and dialogue with the classical heritage affected artists working in Rome during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and in Modern Times?

In Middelburg, a concise introduction to the art history of ancient as well as medieval and modern Rome will be offered. In Rome, a number of key monuments will be studied on site: important collections of classical sculpture as well as medieval churches build after late antique models, the Colosseum and the Pantheon as well the Renaissance Villa Farnesina, the remains of the Imperial Fori as well as their early 20th-century successor, the Forum of Mussolini.

Instructor

Dr. Hans Bloemsma

Track

Antiquity

Period

Spring / 2009

Course Material

• Christopher Hibbert, Rome: the biography of a city, London: Penguin, 1987
• Salvatore Settis, The future of the ‘Classical’, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006
• Penelope J.E. Davies [et.al.], Janson’s History of Art. The Western Tradition, seventh edition, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006
• Reader

Prerequisites

The following course is required in order to take this course:

• A&H 215 17th-Century Dutch Painting