ARTH 343: The Art of Venice

ARTH 343-001: The Art of Venice
(Spring 2022)

12:00 PM to 01:15 PM MW

Music Theater Building 1007

Section Information for Spring 2022

The fabled city of Venice was a center of maritime trade in the late medieval and early modern Europe. Situated on the northeast coast of Italy, Venice was a hub for merchants, pilgrims, diplomats, soldiers, and sailors traveling around the Mediterranean region. These encounters shaped Venice’s rich visual and material culture, which integrated features from Classical Greece and Rome, the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic world, and Gothic and Renaissance Europe into a distinctive aesthetic. In this course, we will study the major monuments (e.g., the church of San Marco and the Ducal Palace) and the celebrated artists (e.g., the Bellini family, Titian, Palladio, and Tiepolo). We will also consider other media that are often left out of art history surveys but were equally important to Venetian art. These include the city’s famous glass production, printmaking, and mosaics. We will examine these eclectic art forms in relation to the Venice’s geography, trade, contacts with foreign cultures, as well as class and gender hierarchies.

Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

This course studies Venetian society and culture through the visual arts. Venice was a center of maritime trade in the late medieval and early modern Europe. Situated on the northeast coast of Italy, Venice was a hub for merchants, pilgrims, diplomats, soldiers, and sailors traveling around the Mediterranean region. These encounters shaped Venice’s rich visual and material culture, which integrated features from other parts of Italy, northern Europe, the Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Turkey, North Africa, and Classical Greece and Rome into a distinctive aesthetic. In this course, we will study the major monuments (e.g., the church of San Marco and the Ducal Palace) and the celebrated artists (e.g., the Bellini family, Titian, Palladio, and Tiepolo). We will also consider other media that are often left out of art history surveys but were equally important to Venetian art, including the city’s famous glass production, luxury textile industry, print and publishing, and mosaics. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Arts
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.