This course will focus on Italian Art from the Middle Ages to the Rococo period and its social, political, and cultural implications. Classes, lectures, and field studies will cover a period of time that lasts from the 14th century to the end of the 18th century. Through the study of defining masterpieces by the most famous Italian artists during those 600 years, this course will consider the historical and cultural context of the main artistic centers in Italy: Florence, Rome, and Venice.

Art in various forms - painting, sculpture, and architecture - will be explored, emphasizing the complementary relationships between the artistic disciplines. Students will be introduced to some of the main theories of art in their historical development from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. A brief political history of each period will be presented in order to set the artists and their works in their contexts.

Starting with the transition from Medieval to Renaissance art, the course will examine artistic movements, patrons, and individual artists' works and contributions. Artists explored will include Giotto, Masaccio, and Masolino from the beginning of the period, culminating in Michelangelo and Titian. Discussion will then turn to the phenomenon of Mannerism and the development of Baroque art, including an analysis of artworks from Giambologna, Cellini, and Tintoretto to Caravaggio, the Caravaggisti, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Finally, the period of Rococo and its particularly ornamental and theatrical artworks will be explored through the works of Giambattista Tiepolo and Rosalba Carriera, the most famous female artist in Europe in the 18th century.