Learning objectives
The student must:
- master the critical tools suitable to formally and conceptually interpret images in their historical development.
- know how to carry out a detailed iconographic and stylistic analysis of a Renaissance work of art, using an appropriate descriptive lexicon;
- be able to perform iconographic and stylistic comparisons between works belonging also to different historical-artistic contexts, highlighting their figurative prototypes and their contaminations both Western and Oriental;
Prerequisites
learn about the history of Renaissance art in Italy and in European countries
Course unit content
Iconography and Iconology .
Full programme
- The iconological school: Warburg, Saxl, Panofsky, Ghihlow, Wind
- Pagan Mistery of the Reanaissance
- Hieroglyphs
- Emblems
- Alchemy and iconology
- The illustrated book
- Portraits
- Gods and loves
Bibliography
The student will have to choose one of the reference manuals and two of the texts from the bibliography relative to the School of Parma.
Non-attending students must agree on the program with the teacher.
Reference manuals:
E. Panofsky, Studi di iconologia. I temi umanistici nell’arte del Rinascimento, Torino Einaudi, 1995
R. Wittkower, Allegoria e migrazione dei simboli, Torino Einaudi 1987
E. Gombrich, Immagini simboliche, Torino Einaudi 1997
K. Gielhlow, Hieroglyphica. La conoscenza umanistica dei geroglifici nell’allegoria del Rinascimento, una ipotesi, ed. italiana a cura di M. Ghelardi e S. Mueller, Nino Aragno editore, Torino 2004;
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a cura di M. Gabriele e M. Ariani, Milano, Adelphi 1998
Andrea Alciato, Il libro degli Emblemi, a cura di M. Gabriele, Nuova Edizione ampliata, Milano, Adelphi, 2015;
‘Con parola brieve et con figura’. Libri antichi di imprese e emblemi, a cura di L. Bolzoni; Firenze, Maria Pacini Fazzi editore, 2004
M. Gabriele, Alchimia e Iconologia, Forum editrice universitaria udinese, Udine 2008 + Parmigianino e la pratica dell’alchimia, catalogo della mostra a cura di F. Del Torre, E. Fadda, M. Gabriele, S. Feryno-Pagden, Silvana, Cinisello Balsamo 2003 + 30. Elisabetta Fadda, Un ‘soggetto acquaticcio’: Diana al bagno. Negli affreschi di Parmigianino a Fontanellato il ritratto emblematico dei committenti, in Il mito di Diana Arte, letteratura, musica, (atti del convegno, Reggia di Venaria, 2010) a cura di A. Colturato, G. Barberi Squarotti, C. Goria, Leo Olschki, Firenze 2018, pp. 55 – 82.
E. Fadda, Come in Rebus, Correggio e la Camera di San Paolo, Firenze, Olschky 2018
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons with slides.
Assessment methods and criteria
The assessment will take place through an oral exam lasting about 20-30 minutes. During the examination, images and reference texts can be shown. Students will have the texts adopted with them.The evaluation will consist of an oral test, inherent specifically i
topics covered in the course and those included in the recommended bibliography. A question will be on a topic chosen by the candidate. A fail is determined by the lack of an understanding of the minimum content of the course, the inability to express oneself adequately, by a lack of autonomous preparation, the inability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as an inability to make independent judgments. A pass (18-23/30) is determined by the student’s possession of the minimum, fundamental contents of the course, an adequate level of autonomous preparation and ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as an acceptable level of ability in making independent judgments. Middle-range scores (24-27/30) are assigned to the student who produces evidence of a more than sufficient level (24-25/30) or good level (26-27/30) in the evaluation indicators listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded on the basis of the student’s demonstration of a very good or excellent level in the evaluation indicators listed above.
