course

Course Credit:  3

“Force yourself to imitate Michelangelo in everything.” These were the words expressed by Michelangelo’s biographer to a remarkably self-aware generation of artists in 16th-century Florence, Rome, and Venice. However, whether rival artists wanted to, or even imagined they could succeed in imitating Michelangelo’s work is another question—one among many we’ll explore in The Age of Michelangelo, 1450-1650. In consultation with a range of visual, historical, and literary materials, we’ll delve into the spirit of the age, looking at drawing, painting, sculpture, furniture and garden design, food, weaponry, architecture, and urban planning, as well as people. We’ll tap into the players and personalities of the times—Leonardo, Giorgione, Raphael, Sofonisba Anguissola, Titian—as well as Isabella d’Este, the Della Rovere, and the Medici families who sought to shape their immediate world through power, imagination, and the artistry of their times. Students will conduct close readings, originate research, formulate essays, and in an effort to gain insight into the Renaissance state of mind reconstruct a piece of history with a hands-on laboratory project and a small, original artwork of their own. Prerequisite: AH210, or one course from Ancient Civilizations category. This course can be taken concurrently with Medieval Worlds in Motion category.