Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the tools required to comprehend and evaluate the various methodologies of analysis developed by specialised historiography concerned with historical-artistic issues. In addition to this students will be introduced to direct analysis of monuments and works of art.
Prerequisites
Students who have never taken an exam in Medieval Art History are required to show familiarity with and give an account of an art history textbook, to be agreed upon with the teacher, during the exam.
Course unit content
The course sets out to analyse the relations between the monastic reforms and images. Starting out from Rodulfus Glaber’s famous phrase referring to the “white mantle of churches” which covered the entire … at the beginning of the second millennium, it will also examine questions regarding the role that the monastic reforms linked with Gorze, Guglielmo da Volpiano and Cluny, as well as the one which takes its name from Pope Gregory VII, played in the choice and elaboration of images (architecture, sculpture, painting and sumptuary arts).
Bibliography
G. M. Cantarella, Il sole e la luna. La rivoluzione di Gregorio VII papa (1073-1085), Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2005. <br />
Matilde e il tesoro dei Canossa tra castelli, monasteri e città, edited by A. Calzona, catalogue of the exhibition in Reggio Emilia-Canossa, 31 August 2008 - 11 January 2009, Cinisello Balsamo, Silvana Editoriale, 2008. <br />
H. Toubert, Un'arte orientata: riforma gregoriana e iconografia, edited by L. Speciale, Milano, Jaca Book, 2001; in particular “Introduzione”, chapter I (pp. 23-36), second part, chapters IV, V, VI, VII and VIII (pp. 73-227). <br />
E. Kitzinger, “The Gregorian reform and the Visual Arts: A problem of Method”, now in E. Kitzinger, Studies in Late Antique Byzantine and Medieval Western Art, vol. II, London, The Pindar Press, 2003, pp. 889-909 (originally published in Transactions of the Royal Historical Association, 22, 1972, pp. 87-102). <br />
C. Tosco, “Gli architetti e le maestranze”, in Arti e storia del medioevo, II, Del costruire: tecniche, artisti, artigiani, committenti, Torino, Einaudi, 2003, pp. 43-68. <br />
Teaching methods
Students will not be assessed only on the basis of concepts learned; they will also be required to show the ability to approach and contribute in an aware fashion to the critical debate around issues dealt with during the lessons; in some cases students may propose brief research projects on topics of their choice or give an account of the field research conducted and agreed with the teacher.
