This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
The course begins with an analysis of Raphael's frescoes in the Stanza della Segnatura of the Vatican Palace, as a means of introducing the key themes which will be considered throughout: proportion in architecture, the body and the geometry of vision; rhetoric, both verbal and visual, and the related concepts of variety, decorum, and composition; poetic inspiration, emulation and imitation; and the revival of antiquity. These themes are then reviewed as they occur in the writings of Leon Battista Alberti, the most evolved theoretical texts on the visual arts of the period. Alberti’s works raises the question of whether he was describing current practice or setting out an ideal, and also whether he was writing principally for artists or for their patrons? Alberti’s elevated claims for painting, architecture and, to a lesser extent, sculpture as liberal arts, are then compared with the contemporary status of artists, whether operating from a workshop or employed at court. The course continues by looking in detail at the works of four key Italian artists – Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian – to assess how far they engaged with, or departed from, the Albertian paradigm. Albrecht Dürer, a northern European artist excelling in the less "noble" medium of printmaking, but also profoundly interested in issues of perspective and proportion, is considered to provide a non-Italian point of view on the Renaissance. Interspersed with these studies of single artists lectures may consider in greater detail particular themes raised by these artists’ works, such as the extent of artists’ knowledge of anatomy, the influence of the ruins of Rome, the Renaissance ideal of love, the creation of new styles by transgressing architectural rules for playful effect or to achieve “grace”, and the development in Venice of the genre of pastoral landscape. Alternatively, the work of other major artists may be considered such as Correggio, Parmigianino, Bandinelli etc. Having, broadly speaking, covered the period 1470-1550 chronologically, the course concludes by looking at the mid sixteenth-century reassessment of these artistic achievements in the writings of Dolce, Varchi and Vasari.
44 contact hours
Main assessment methods
Critical Diary (2000 words) (20%)
Group Presentation (individual contribution 10 minutes) (30%)
Essay (4000 words) (50%)
Reassessment methods
Like for like
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices.
The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Undertake an in-depth analyse of the stylistic developments, artistic techniques and working practices that characterised the art of the Renaissance through the study of key artists (such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Durer and Titian);
2. In association with the analysis of style and technique, undertake a sophisticated discussion of the iconographical content of key works of art, and compare treatments of biblical and mythological subjects by different artists;
3. Provide a sophisticated explanation of the contexts in which, and the functions for which, important Renaissance works were made; for example, the revival of interest in the art of antiquity, the 'rise of the artist', or humanist ideas and their impact on religious thought;
4. Undertake an in-depth analyse of the similarities and dissimilarities between the visual arts of the Renaissance and consider why certain of them, notably painting and architecture, achieved a higher status in the period.
5. Demonstrate advanced critical engagement with Renaissance ideas about the visual arts through a knowledge of primary sources, such as biographies of artists, dialogues, treatises and other written sources from the period.
6. Demonstrate advanced research skills by producing a sustained critical analysis of a significant Renaissance theme relating to the visual arts of the period.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate skills of visual, critical and historical analysis, together with generic intellectual skills of synthesis, summarisation, critical judgement and problem-solving, that will allow for the construction of original and persuasive arguments;
2. Demonstrate the key skills of communication, improving performance, problem-solving, and working with others, to a level where a substantial degree of autonomy and self-reflexive awareness is achieved in these tasks;
3. Communicate effectively, using appropriate vocabulary and illustrations, ideas and arguments in both a written and oral form;
4. Read critically, analyse and use a range of primary and secondary texts;
5. Locate and use appropriately a range of learning and reference resources (including visual resources) within the Templeman Library and elsewhere, including museums, galleries and the internet;
6. Employ information technologies to research and present their work.
7. Demonstrate the acquisition of an independent learning style; for example in the preparation and presentation of course work, in carrying out independent research, in showing the ability to reflect on their own learning and by mediating complex arguments in both oral and written form;
8. Approach problem-solving creatively, and form critical and evaluative judgments about the appropriateness of these approaches to a level where a substantial degree of autonomy and self-reflexive awareness is achieved in these tasks and where the student demonstrates advanced research and presentation skills.
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