MES 18.02 Art on the Move: Renaissance Italy and the Islamic World
During the Renaissance, innovations in art and architecture constantly moved back and forth between Italy and the Islamic world. New design models, styles of ornamentation, and even building methods became part of a shared artistic and architectural language that crossed cultural and geographical boundaries in the Mediterranean. This introductory course will focus on exchanges between Italian centers such as Venice, Florence, and Pisa and the Mamluk Sultanate, the Safavid Empire, and the Ottoman Empire between the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the Battle of Lepanto (1571). We will consider a wide range of case studies, including: the role of the traveling painter and architect in foreign courts; the trade in luxury goods such as textiles and ceramics; common trends in villa and garden culture; and the re-appropriation of objects and monuments. How did such a rich history of cross-cultural contact emerge against a backdrop of military strife, political rivalry, and religious tension? To answer this question, we will explore contemporary theories of artistic mobility, hybridity, and influence. The course will include an excursion to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, as well as visits to the Rauner Special Collections Library and the Hood Museum of Art.
Cross Listed Courses
ARTH 28.09