107-438 Women in 16th & 17th Century Italian Art

A knowledge of Italian language and history would be helpful.

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in art history.

This subject will introduce students to a pioneering area in Italian art history. Four major subjects will be considered: treatises on women and the women who commissioned them; women who were artists; women in the subject matter of Italian Renaissance art, such as the biblical heroine Judith; and finally, but most significantly, female patronage; an area where women are much more than a marginal phenomenon. In this last area well- known patrons such as the 'superwomen' Isabella d'Este and the abbess Gioanna of Piacenza, will be studied in relation to works of art that they commissioned, such as Correggio's frescoes in San Paolo, Parma. The patronage of lesser known women, amounting to 10 per cent of Renaissance patrons, will also be explored.

• be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays;

• be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;

• be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;#

• be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision.#

A seminar report of 750 words 20% (due during the semester), an essay of 1750 words 35% (due during the semester) and a take home exam of 2500 words 45% (due in the examination period).

• H D Russell & B Barnes, Eva/Ave Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints. exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington, The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1990.
• P Tinagli, Women in Italian Renaissance Art. Gender, Representation and Identity. Manchester University Press, 1997.