The course aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of the historical evolution of art in Tuscany and Rome during the early modern period. In particular it focuses on the rebirth of the arts of painting and sculpture in central Italy from the fifteenth century to ca. 1569, the year when Cosimo I de' Medici was granted the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany. It will start with the competition for the second set of bronze doors for the Baptistry in Florence (1401), and will end roughly with the reactions against mannerist art codified by the Council of Trent. Thus, it will take the student through various phases in Italian art, from the flourishing of the arts of painting, sculpture and architecture in the city state of Florence, where the guilds played a major role as patrons, to the rule of an oligarchy of magnates headed by the Medici, to their downfall and eventual reinstatement leading to their final consecration as Dukes of Florence. Meanwhile, the popes returned to Rome from Avignon and transformed the city according to the vision of the leading central-Italian artists, namely Michelangelo and Raphael. To all these political phases corresponded an extraordinary flourishing of the arts that embodied in different ways these two cities' pride and managed to express visually the emergence of Florence and Rome as leading world centres. Florentine artists responded to the aspirations of their patrons—be they groups or individuals—inventing a new visual language deeply rooted in the classical past but at the same time dramatically modern in its capacity to elaborate models and observe nature.  The course will aim to introduce students to the leading artistic personalities of the period (Brunelleschi, Donatello, Ghiberti, Della Robbia, Masaccio, Lippi, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Verrocchio, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Giuliano da Sangallo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, to name but a few), as well as to the genres and types of artefacts produced. Lectures will be online but if conditions will allow it is hoped we might visit some museums and monuments.

Academic progress will be monitored and verified in class.

Students will be able to understand the context and production of works of art in a varety of media, and talk about them using the language of art criticism.

The course will be assessed by means of a final written exam.

Students will acquire and/or develop an awareness of complex art and art historical issues.

Students will be requested to read chapters from books or articles before each lecture, and time will be devoted to their discussion in class.