ARTH 28.01 The Global Renaissance
The movement to globalize the field of art history has dramatically changed how we understand the phenomenon traditionally called “the Renaissance.” This course gives students an opportunity to question how the European canon of Renaissance ‘masterworks’ was constructed, and what it overlooks. By expanding beyond the Italian centers of Florence, Rome, and Venice, we will take a global approach to the visual and architectural culture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Each week will consider a region typically marginalized in Renaissance studies – including the Americas, Africa, and Asia – to explore how trends in art making and architectural design evolved across distant geographies. How do the dominant narratives of exploration, discovery, and invention intersect with the histories of colonialism, slavery, and economic upheaval? How did diverse local practices, identities, and voices leave their mark on the period? Throughout, we will consider topics such as: the exchange of models, techniques, and materials between foreign workshops; theories of circulation and exchange; and the relationship between so-called artistic ‘centers’ and their peripheries.
Instructor
Kassler-Taub