AH30610 Art, Myth & Identity in Venice

Academic Year 2020/2021

This course investigates the dazzling art and culture of renaissance Venice and its north Italian territories, with a particular emphasis on painting during its Renaissance golden age. Our focus will be on the work of leading painters, such as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto, but we shall also consider the contribution of sculptors and architects such as Jacopo Sansovino and Andrea Palladio. In studying their achievements, we shall examine a period in which many of the myths and traditions of Venice were simultaneously challenged and renewed in response to a variety of internal and external pressures. We will also step outside the renaissance occasionally, and dwell on Venice’s artistic reputation at different points, particularly during its final flourish of creativity in the eighteenth century - the age of the Grand Tour.

In Autumn 2020 this module will consist of online lectures and one weekly face-to-face seminar, which will also be available to attend/review online, with further supportive content online.

Please see the School's Teaching and Learning statement for 2020-1 for further details: https://www.ucd.ie/arthistory/newsandevents/schoolofarthistoryculturalpolicyteachinglearningresearchstatement2020-21

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, students should be able to demonstrate the following:
- an ability to regularly and punctually engage with classes, subject to social distancing rules, in person and online, work to set deadlines, perform under test conditions without class notes, and submit original, non-plagiarised work in accordance with the standards expected at university.
- familiarity and understanding of a range of recommended texts and critical/ theoretical sources relevant to the course, and be able to work under test/ exam conditions without reliance on supplementary notes or other learning aids.
- a historical appreciation of Venice, its history, culture and artistic development particularly with regard to painting, and the position of Venetian art within a wider Italian, and occasionally European, context.
- an understanding of how Venice's artistic development relates to its environmental, social and geo-political situation.
- be able to articulate an appreciation of the particular technical characteristics of the art of Venice, and identify, date, and critically analyse the work of its leading practitioners.
- further develop connoisseurial skills vital to a competency in the history of art, and with particular relevance to prominent Venetian painters.

Indicative Module Content:

Lectures will cover the following topics:
- the myth of Venice as an ideal city
- the corporate ethos of the city as reflected through art patronage
- the iconography of the Virgin and St Mark as civic mascots
- the portrayal of the Venetian cityscape in paintings and prints
- the architectural development of Venice
- artistic portrayals of the sociopolitical situation in sixteenth-century Venice, including representations of poverty and disease
- the rise of villa culture and the work of Andrea Palladio
- the careers of Titian and his immediate rivals
- the particular technical characteristcs of Venetian painting
- the role of sculpture
- the decline of Venice in the eighteenth century

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

14

Seminar (or Webinar)

16

Field Trip/External Visits

4

Specified Learning Activities

95

Autonomous Student Learning

95

Total

224

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module intends to pursue a blended approach in line with developing social distancing restrictions, with a mixture of online classes, and face to face teaching. Classes will ordinarily consist of 1 lecture and 1 seminar weekly. The lectures will be offered online, but it is envisaged that the seminars will be happen face-to-face (with online access) subject to current Covid 19 restrictions. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

It would be advantageous for students to concerned to have already completed AH10050 European Art 1/ AH10120 Art of the Renaissance and AH20240 The Age of Michelangelo.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: Essay based on class presentation. Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

30

Class Test: This will be in the form of either an online or take-home test in weeks 11 or 12. Week 11 n/a Graded No

30

Attendance: Participation - This pass/ fail grade will be decided on sufficient evidence of engagement with the module through face-to-face attendance/ online activity as subject to Covid 19 restrictions. Throughout the Trimester n/a Pass/Fail Grade Scale No

10

Continuous Assessment: Class presentation Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

30


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Name Role
Frances Coulter Tutor
Ms Rachel Healy Tutor