FINA-A 200 Topics in Art History: Northern Renaissance Art

Instructor: Haohao Lu

Lecture: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 12:40pm-2:20pm

Summer 2012

Course Description:

The Northern Renaissance, a historic period with unusual economic, social, and political vibrancy, dated from the middle of the fourteenth century to the late sixteenth century. It involved a vast area to the North of the Alps known as the Burgundian Netherlands and Southern Germany. This region, whose boundary largely derived from dynastic expansions and political alliances, came to see an artistic expression remarkably distinctive from its southern Alpine counterpart, the Italian Renaissance. Dedicated to the study of visual culture of the Northern Renaissance, this course will investigate the economic and ideological situations of late medieval and Renaissance Europe, on which such culture thrived. For that matter, we will read about the creation and marketing of art, patronage and consumption, as well as medievalism and humanism. Special attention will be paid to outstanding artists such as Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, Albrecht Durer, and Quentin Massys. Moreover, in addition to looking at the peculiarities of their visual expressions, we will inquire into the historical and political circumstances that cultivated the success of their art. This course focuses on the causes, appearances, and influences of the visual phenomena of the Northern Renaissance. We will examine naturalism, religiosity, and humanism, a few characteristics of Renaissance art. Furthermore, we will also address a number of pressing questions, such as, what is the significance of the fact that Northern Renaissance naturalism can be seen as both meticulous and beguiling? What contributed to the simultaneous investments in contradictory pursuits such as beauty and ugliness, piety and secularism, and morality and eroticism?

What is the Main Assignment?

Reading Responses and Article Presentation:

Each reading response should be a 2-3 page essay both summarizing and evaluating a chosen article. It should demonstrate your investment in recognizing and criticizing scholarly arguments pertaining to the content of the course. From the 3 articles studied you must choose 1 to present in class. Your choice of articles (including the one to be presented) should be communicated to the instructor by the end of the first week. You must submit your reading response via turnitin.com prior to the corresponding class. 

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