Francesca DELL'ACQUA | THE MIDDLE AGES: OBJECTS, QUESTIONS, AND APPROACHES
Francesca DELL'ACQUA THE MIDDLE AGES: OBJECTS, QUESTIONS, AND APPROACHES
cod. SP22400016
THE MIDDLE AGES: OBJECTS, QUESTIONS, AND APPROACHES
| SP22400016 | |
| DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE | |
| EQF7 | |
| ART HISTORY AND CRITICISM | |
| 2025/2026 |
| OBBLIGATORIO | |
| YEAR OF COURSE 1 | |
| YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2025 | |
| AUTUMN SEMESTER |
| SSD | CFU | HOURS | ACTIVITY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-ART/01 | 9 | 45 | LESSONS |
| Objectives | |
|---|---|
| THIS MODULE AIMS TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE APPROPRIATE HISTORICAL-CRITICAL TOOLS TO ANALYSE ARTISTIC ARTEFACTS AS ELEMENTS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD. A TECHNICAL-FORMAL ANALYSIS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL FRAMEWORK AND THE REFERENCE TO EXISTING HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE POSSIBILITY OF OVERCOMING IT. WHERE EXISTING, THE READING OF CONTEMPORARY WRITTEN SOURCES WILL BE ENCOURAGED IN ORDER TO BETTER CONTEXTUALISE THE VALUE OF ARTISTIC ARTEFACTS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF BROADER SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STUDIES. AT THE END OF THE MODULE, STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE ACQUIRED A CERTAIN AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT; COMMUNICATION SKILLS; KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAIN CENTRES OF ARTISTIC PRODUCTION; THE QUESTION OF ARTISTIC PATRONAGE; THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE WORKS AND ANALYSE THEM FROM A HISTORICAL, STYLISTIC, ICONOGRAPHIC, TECHNICAL-MATERIAL POINT OF VIEW; UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAIN CRITICAL-METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS INHERENT TO THE TEACHING; A CRITICAL POSITION TOWARDS SOURCES AND DOCUMENTS. |
| Prerequisites | |
|---|---|
| THIS MODULE PRESUPPOSES A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAIN MONUMENTS AND ISSUES OF MEDIEVAL WESTERN ART AND CULTURE. |
| Contents | |
|---|---|
THIS MODULE HAS 40 HOURS OF IN-CLASSROOM LECTURES, AND 5 HOURS OF TEACHING IN SITU. THE TOPIC OF THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES AND THEIR PERSONIFICATIONS IN THE MIDDLE AGES BETWEEN THE WEST AND THE NEAR EAST WILL BE THE LENS THROUGH WHICH TO LOOK AT A SELECTION OF “OBJECTS, PROBLEMS AND APPROACHES” TO THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD. THE HOURS OF CLASSROOM TEACHING WILL FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING TOPICS: • VIRTUES IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD • VIRTUES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT • ICONIC FIGURES AND VIRTUES IN THE PAGAN LATE-ANTIQUE WORLD • CHRISTIAN VIRTUES IN THE LATE-ANTIQUE PERIOD: PRUDENTIUS, PSYCHOMACHIA, WORK AND TRANSMISSION • MONASTIC AND SECULAR VIRTUES IN THE EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD: THE SCALE OF VIRTUES • AUTPERTO, LIBELLUS DE CONFLICTU VITIORUM ATQUE VIRTUTUM, WORK AND TRANSMISSION • AUTPERTO: BLESSED HUMILITAS AND THE VIRGIN MARY • ALCUIN, DE VIRTUTIBUS ET VITIIS AND THE CAROLINGIANS • VIRTUES AND THEIR REPRESENTATIONS IN THE CENTURY OF THE YEAR 1000 • VIRTUES AND THEIR REPRESENTATIONS BETWEEN THE 12TH AND 13TH CENTURIES: FRANCE, CATHEDRALS • BONAVENTURA DA BAGNOREGIO, LIGNUM VITAE • GIOTTO AT THE SCROVEGNI CHAPEL • FLORENCE, GIOTTO'S BELL TOWER AND THE PANELS OF ANDREA PISANO • FLORENCE, THE MISERICORDIA DOMINI AT BIGALLO • SIENA AND THE GOOD GOVERNMENT • THE MADONNA DELL’UMILTÀ AND SIENA BETWEEN THE 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES • VIRTUES AND CHIVALRIC VALUES ON THE GUICCIARDINI BLANKETS • THE VIRTUES IN THE TOMBS OF TINO DI CAMAINO • THE VIRTUES OF PRINCES (THE SPECULA PRINCIPUM) • VICES, SINS, REPENTANCE, THE REMISSION OF SINS IN MEDIEVAL PILGRIMAGE TWO VISITS IN SITU (MONUMENTS/PLACES TO BE DETERMINED, PROBABLY NAPLES AND ROME OR FLORENCE) WILL CONTRIBUTE TO AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THEMES PRESENTED IN THE CLASSROOM. |
| Teaching Methods | |
|---|---|
| THIS MODULE HAS 40 HOURS OF CLASSROOM TEACHING AND 5 HOURS OF ON-SITE TEACHING. LECTURES WILL BE SUPPORTED BY POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS. THE ON-SITE LECTURES WILL BE SUPPORTED BY TEACHING MATERIALS PROVIDED BEFORE THE VISIT (IN PDF). |
| Verification of learning | |
|---|---|
WRITING A SHORT ESSAY AS AN INTERMEDIATE TEST AND PREPARATORY TO THE FINAL ORAL EXAM. • THE TOPIC OF THE THESIS MUST BE CHOSEN BY THE STUDENT IN LINE WITH THE TOPICS OF THE COURSE AND IN GENERAL WITH MEDIEVAL ART BEFORE THE COURSE ENDS. • THE TOPIC MUST BE AGREED BY EMAIL WITH THE LECTURER, PROF. DELL’ACQUA (FDELLACQUA@UNISA.IT). • ONCE THE TOPIC HAS BEEN CONFIRMED, THE STUDENT MUST WRITE A SHORT ESSAY OF ABOUT 7 PAGES (PLUS IMAGES AND MORE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND POSSIBLE WEBOGRAPHY) WHERE HE/SHE WILL DEVELOP ASPECTS THAT IN HIS/HER OPINION DESERVE MORE ATTENTION. • THE THESIS MUST BE DELIVERED AT LEAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE DATE OF THE EXAM SESSION FOR WHICH HE/SHE INTENDS TO REGISTER. • IT WILL BE DELIVERED AS A WORD FILE HAVING THE CANDIDATE'S SURNAME IN THE TITLE AND ONE/TWO WORDS OF REFERENCE TO THE TOPIC. • IT IS IMPORTANT TO PROPOSE A TOPIC THAT IS NOT TOO BROAD, GIVEN THE LIMIT OF 7 PAGES. THIS THESIS IS AN EXERCISE THAT PREPARES THE STUDENT FOR THE WRITING OF A CHAPTER OF THE MASTER'S THESIS, CONSEQUENTLY, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO CHOOSE A MORE SPECIFIC THEME WHOSE ELABORATION CAN BE USEFUL BOTH FOR THE STUDENT, WHO HERE TRAINS TO ARTICULATE IN-DEPTH SPEECHES IN WRITING, AND FOR THOSE WHO EVALUATE THE THESIS, BECAUSE THIS WILL ALLOW TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE STUDENT REASONS AND ELABORATES SPECIFIC INFORMATION. THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS WILL BE EVALUATED IN THE ESSAY: 1) THE CONTENTS (THE STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY AND HOW ITS VARIOUS SECTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND SUPPORTED WITH BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC.) 2) THE BIBLIOGRAPHY (IF IT IS UPDATED, ETC.) AND THE CITATION STYLE OF THE SAME (FOR WHICH EXAMPLES WILL BE PROVIDED) 3) THE LEVEL OF EDITING OF THE TEXT (INCLUDING NOTES AND IMAGE CAPTIONS) 4) COMPLIANCE WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN A TWO-PAGE DOCUMENT WITH "USEFUL INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING THE THESIS" DRAWN UP BY THE LECTURER AND PROVIDED TO EACH STUDENT WHEN THEY AGREE ON THE THEME. THE ORAL EXAM WILL FOCUS ON THE DISCUSSION OF THE POWER POINT SLIDES PROVIDED BY THE LECTURER, WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO THE REFERENCE LITERATURE AND TO WHAT WAS DISCUSSED IN CLASS. |
| Texts | |
|---|---|
| •A. KATZENELLENBOGEN, ALLEGORIES OF THE VIRTUES AND VICES IN MEDIAEVAL ART: FROM EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES TO THE 13TH CENTURY. STUDIES OF THE WARBURG INSTITUTE 10, LONDON, 1939, PP. 1–56 (ONLINE, INTERNET ARCHIVE: HTTPS://ARCHIVE.ORG/DETAILS/ALLEGORIESOFVIRT0000KATZ_Z1H3) •P. BROWN, “THE SAINT AS EXEMPLAR IN LATE ANTIQUITY,” REPRESENTATIONS 1 (1983): 1–23 (A PDF WILL BE PROVIDED). •M. C. CARILE, “IMPERIAL ICONS IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND BYZANTIUM. THE ICONIC IMAGE OF THE EMPEROR BETWEEN REPRESENTATION AND PRESENCE,” IKON 9 (2016), PP. 75-98 (A PDF WILL BE PROVIDED). •F. DELL’ACQUA, ICONOPHILIA: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND THE USE OF IMAGES IN ROME C.680–880. BIRMINGHAM BYZANTINE AND OTTOMAN STUDIES 27, ABINGDON-ON-THAMES 2020, PP. 23–32; 61–69; 87–92; 100–108; 118–120; 241–309. (BIBLIOTECA CENTRALE UNISA). •F. DELL’ACQUA, AN IMAGE OF AUTHORITY. THE IVORY PLAQUE WITH THE ENTHRONED VIRGIN FROM AACHEN, C. 800–810, IN (IN)SIGHTS REGARDING MEDIEVAL ART. A TRIBUTE TO HERBERT KESSLER, SPECIAL ISSUE OF ‘CODEX AQVILARENSIS. REVISTA DE ARTE MEDIEVAL’, 37 (2021), PP. 179–96. (A PDF WILL BE PROVIDED) •V. IVANOVICI, BETWEEN STATUES AND ICONS. ICONIC PERSONS FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES. CONTEXTS OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ANTHROPOLOGY 5, LEIDEN, 2023, PP. XXV–XXXI; 1–10; 33–79; 125–40 (BIBLIOTECA CENTRALE UNISA) |
| More Information | |
|---|---|
| THE MODULE WILL BE DELIVERED DURING THE FIRST SEMESTER, SEPTEMBER–DECEMBER. |
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