The Cradle of the Renaissance: Art in Tuscany 1400-1539
3 weeks duration for 6 ECTS-Dates: 8-26/June 2015
Course director: Cinzia Maria Sicca (sicca@arte.unipi.it), Associate Professor of Modern Art History, Dott.Lett. (Pisa), M.A. (Cantab.), Ph.D.(Leicester)
This Summer course focuses on the rebirth of the arts of painting and sculpture in Tuscany from the fifteenth century to the end of the 1530s, coinciding roughly with the competition for the second set of bronze doors for the Baptistry in Florence (1401), and taking as its closing date the wedding of the first Duke of Tuscany to Eleonora di Toledo, the daughter of the Viceroy of Naples. Thus the time span under consideration will take the student through various phases in Florentine art, from the city state in which the guilds played a major role as patrons, to the rule of an oligarchy of magnates headed by the Medici, to their downfall and eventual reinstatement leading to their final consecration as Dukes of Florence. All these political phases corresponded to an extraordinary flourishing of the arts, which embodied the city’s pride and managed to express visually its emergence as a leading centre in the Italian peninsula. Florentine artists responded to the aspirations of their patrons—be they groups or individuals—inventing a new visual language deeply rooted in the classical past, but at the same time dramatically modern in its capacity to elaborate models and observe nature.
The course will aim to introduce students to the leading artistic personalities of the period (Brunelleschi, Donatello, Ghiberti, Della Robbia, Masaccio, Lippi, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Verrocchio, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Giuliano da Sangallo, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, Bronzino, Bandinelli etc.), as well as to the genres and types of artifacts produced. Frequent visits to museums and sites will complement frontal lectures.
Instructors and tutors
Cristiano Giometti, University of Florence
Stefano Martinelli, former visiting fellow Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Bruna Niccoli, University of Pisa
Giovanni Santucci, junior researcher, University of Pisa
Cinzia Maria Sicca, University of Pisa
How to Apply
In order to apply, students have to:
1) Fill in this Appplication Form and send it to the Logistic Coordinator of the Programme: Lynda Lattke (email: studyabroad@unipi.it)
2) Pay the Application fee alongside the application. This Application fee consists of a non-refundable 250 euros. Such a sum is refunded if your application cannot be accepted. No refund will be given if you fail to complete the application process or you withdraw your application.
Programme fee – which has to be paid at a later stage – includes tuition, field trips, accident insurance, access to an Italian language course, a logistics coordinator and availability of city-tutors who will ensure students’ immersion in Italian culture.
Please keep in mind that prices will vary based on the selected number of modules and whether the student prefers to take care of his/her own meals.
Application deadline: April 30th, 2015
Deadline to pay the total amount: May 15th, 2015.
Please, bear in mind that the Summer school will be activated only with a minimum of 10 participants. Students who have applied will be informed at the beginning of May whether the Summer school will take place. Should the Summer school be cancelled then the University of Pisa will fully refund the €250 to the student.