AHT1101 Renaissance to romanticism

This unit introduces you to the history of art from the Renaissance to Romanticism. Key historical and theoretical topics from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries will be explored, such as: the rise of the artist and the emergence of new subjects, mediums and techniques of art during the Renaissance; the emphasis in Baroque art on spectacle and spirituality; the globalisation of Renaissance and Baroque art; the tradition of Neoclassicism from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century; genre and still-life painting; art as politics and social commentary; the emergence of landscape and the philosophy of the picturesque and the sublime; the eroticism and escapism of Rococo; and the phenomenon of Romanticism. The unit will develop your ability to engage critically with the history, theory and historiography of art. Recent research and current topics of debate will be emphasised in seminars, tutorials and readings.