The Art of the Renaissance in Florence and Rome

About

Florence, originally founded by the Romans, was governed by the Medici family for centuries. Most of them had a passionate interest in painting, sculpture, architecture and literature. Even today, Florence keeps an exceptional artistic heritage which provides marvellous evidence of its aged culture. This course offers students the opportunity to study the works of art from the Renaissance period, while staying in Florence.

Florence is the most marked example of Renaissance cities in Italy. Nowhere else in Italy does one find such a multitude of buildings and works of art from this period. Among these cultural highlights are the magnificent cathedral: Santa Maria del Fiore, churches that contain breathtaking frescocycli, renowned museums such as Uffizi, Bargello, Accademia, and impressive city-palaces for example, Palazzo Strozzi; Palazzo Rucellai; Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici Riccardi and the famous city hall, Palazzo Vecchio. The course also includes a day trip to Rome where you will visit the Vatican museum's, Sistine Chapel and the St Peter's Basilica and more!

The fundamental goals are to introduce you to the art and architecture of Florence in its historical context, and in doing so, to make you familiar with the origins, nature and development of the Renaissance in the visual arts. Mastery of basic concepts and terminology of art historical studies is another essential aspect of this course.

NB: Wish to combine this course with a Art course in the Netherlands? This course is part of the track 'History of Art: Relations between Italy and the Netherlands'. You can even extend this with a course in Berlin, in our track 'History of Art: A Thousand Years of European Highlights'.

Course leader

Prof. dr. Michael Kwakkelstein

Fee info