111-436 Pastoral Narratives in Western Painting

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Subject Description

This subject examines pictures produced in the modern period in the West which concern themselves with Pastoral themes. In general terms, the course seeks to account for the persistence of the pastoral as an ideal in Art. Beginning with the representation of the ploughman in Medieval material the course explores the relationship between landscape, land use and the social order. The emergence of pastoral art in Venice is considered and the concepts of the locus ameonus and pittura come poesia are studied. The traditions which emerge out of High Renaissance painting in both southern and northern Europe are examined before moving to the great pastoral pictures of the eighteenth century. The persistence of the pastoral ideal in romantic painting in the late modern period are subsequently studied and the appearance of pastoral ideals in postmodern art are studied. Themes such as melancholy, masquerade, nostalgia, the politics of landuse, the gendered nature of pastoral discourses are all considered.

Assessment

Written work which may comprise class papers, essays, visual tests or take-home examinations totalling about 6000 words.

Prescribed Texts

• Robert Cafritz et al, Place of Delight, The Pastoral Landscape. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1988.
• John Barrell, The Dark Side of the Landscape. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
• Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden. New York 1967.