Office Hours:
Tu 2-3/ Th 3-4
253A LA / ext. 6-2112

alacres@darkwing

Syllabus

The course surveys painting and the graphic arts in the Netherlands, Germany, and France c. 1350-1550. This comprises a broad range of material, including art produced for various courts, churches, civic bodies, and private patrons among the growing middle classes in the cities of Western Europe. Rather than presuming a "Northern" style defined in contrast to the art of the Italian Renaissance, we will aim to understand regional and individual tendencies on their own terms. Works will be examined in light of the many circumstances of artistic production in the period, with attention to changing issues of function, iconography, patronage, the market, and the rapidly expanding traffic of artistic ideas.

Course texts:

Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art. New York, 1985.

Stechow, Wolfgang. Northern Renaissance Art, 1400-1600: Sources and Documents. Evanston, 1989 (optional)

Both books, along with a selection of additional assigned readings, are on reserve in the AAA Library. Most of the additional readings (beyond those in Snyder and Stechow) are available as photocopies in a 3-ring binder, and many also in the books or journals in which they were published.

The course homepage is at: /~arthist/arh343/

Evaluation:

The final grade will be based on a quiz, a midterm, and a final. You also have the option to write a research paper (7-9 pp.) on a topic defined in consultation with me. The optional paper is due on the last day of class (March 11). Those wishing to write one must clear their topic with me by Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Quiz	10% (Jan. 21)		Quiz	10%
Midterm	40% (Feb. 11)	or	Midterm	25%
Final	50% (Mar. 15, 8 am)		Paper	25%
			Final	40%

Examinations:

The quiz and exams are based mainly on material presented in lecture. Most of the images for which you are responsible are illustrated in Snyder, and an additional selection will be posted on image reserve (available through the course homepage) as the term progresses. Before each exam you will receive a list of the figure numbers in Snyder corresponding to the works you are expected to know for the exam.

There are no make-ups scheduled for exams.

The quiz and exams include some combination of I) short slide identifications, II) discussions of single slides in response to a question, III) comparisons, and IV) essay questions (on the final exam).

For slide identifications you will be asked to provide:

1) title / subject
2) artist
3) date
4) location (for which the work was made or with which the artist was primarily associated. For many this would be a church or city; for some, a country or region will suffice)

Students with a documented disability who anticipate requiring special accommodations in this course should arrange to meet with the instructor as soon as possible. Please request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities (Hilary Gerdes, x6-3211, TTY x6-1083) send a letter verifying your disability.

Course schedule:

Jan. 5/7 Introduction

14th-century courts (Avignon, Prague)

Reading: Snyder, 15-32

Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer, 18-51.

Jan. 12/14 Early German painting

Valois patronage in France and Burgundy

Reading: Snyder, 74-86, 41-73

Van Os, "The Culture of Prayer" in The Art of Devotion, pp. 50-85.

Ainsworth, "Workshop Practice in Early Netherlandish Painting: An Inside View" in From Van Eyck to Bruegel 205-211.

Jan. 19/21 15th-century Netherlandish painting

QUIZ (Thursday)

Reading: Snyder, 88-123

Stechow, 3-8 (Van Eyck documents)

Panofsky, "Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait," Burlington Magazine 64, 1934, 117-27.

Jan. 26/28 15th-century Netherlandish painting

Reading: Snyder, 124-194

Stechow, 8-19 (Documents on several early Nethelandish painters)

Harbison, "Visions and meditations in early Flemish Painting," Simiolus 15, 1985, 87-118.

Feb. 2/4 15th-century French and German painting

Early prints

Reading: Snyder, 239-265, 218-226, 230-232, 266-278

Stechow, 141-146 (Documents on French painters)

Feb. 9/11 MIDTERM (Tuesday)

Early prints

German sculpture

Reading: Snyder, 279-292, 298-311

Stechow, 81-84 (Documents on German sculpture)

Moxey, "Master E.S. and the Folly of Love," Simiolus 11, 1980, 125-148.

Feb.16/18 Bosch

16th-century Germany

Readings: Snyder, 195-217, 317-332

Stechow, 19-24, 85-94 (Documents on Bosch, Dürer)

Feb. 23/25 16th-century Germany

Readings: Snyder, 333-398

Stechow, 94-108, 122-125, 129-133 (Documents on Dürer, Luther, Holbein)

Koerner, "Death as Hermeneutic," in The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art, Chicago, 1993, 292-316.

Mar. 2/4 16th-century Netherlands

Readings: Snyder, 399-412, 419-426, 467-482

Mar. 9/11 16th-century Netherlands

Readings: Snyder, 455-466, 484-510

Stechow, 36-41 (Documents on Bruegel)

Gibson, "Calendar and Kermis" in Bruegel, London, 1977, 146-175.

Final exam: Monday, March 15 8:00 a.m.

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Supplemental readings

J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven and London, 1991, 18-51.

H. van Os, The Art of Devotion in the Late Middle Ages in Europe 1300-1500, Princeton, 1994, 50-85.

M. Ainsworth, "Workshop Practice in Early Netherlandish Painting: An Inside View," in From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998, 205-211.

E. Panofsky, "Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait," in Modern Perspectives in Western Art History, ed. W.E. Kleinbauer, New York, 1971, 193-203 (orig.Burlington Magazine 64, 1934, 117-27.)

C. Harbison, "Visions and meditations in early Flemish Painting," Simiolus 15, 1985, 87-118.

K. Moxey, "Master E.S. and the Folly of Love," Simiolus 11, 1980, 125-148.

J. L. Koerner, "Death as Hermeneutic," in The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art, Chicago, 1993, 292-316.

W. S. Gibson, "Calendar and Kermis," in Bruegel, London, 1977, 146-175.