The course aims to provide the basic tools for addressing the study of the history of architecture, both in its technical and formal extent and in its social, political and cultural connections. Therefore, we would like the students to acquire adequate technical terminology, a general picture of the development of the History of Architecture in the West (with particular attention to Italy) in the modern age, as well as an awareness of the sources and problems. of scientific research in the historical-architectural field. Finally, the course is intended to lead to a critical understanding of historical-architectural phenomena and their relationship with their historical-geographical context.
Course Prerequisites
Good knowledge of the historical development of the Italian area in the Modern Age.
Teaching Methods
The course will take place through lectures.
Assessment Methods
The oral exam is focused on the topics covered in class and it will tend to evaluate the ability to recognize the works, to summarize the events of the buildings, to contextualize them in the historical and cultural panorama of the time and to describe them correctly, through the use of appropriate specific terminology.
Texts
C. L. Frommel, Architettura del Rinascimento Italiano, Milano, Skira, 2014 chapter relating to the topics covered in class]. Bibliographical references for the in-depth study of topics covered will be provided by the lecturer during class. The exam will cover: lecture notes, the contents of the manual, and the recommended bibliographical references.
Contents
The course focuses on the relationship between architecture and power in the Modern Age (15th-16th centuries). In particular, the course aims to investigate the complex relationship between “artistic phenomena” and “extra-artistic phenomena” (Castelnuovo-Ginzburg, 1979) in the Italian historical and architectural landscape of the 15th and 16th centuries. Through the study of the main centres of architectural production in the Modern Age, the course will highlight the links between architectural construction sites and the political, economic, social, and religious dynamics at play. The focus will be on the use of architecture, urban interventions, as well as the arts and sculpture (figurative and architectural) as “instruments of the art of government” and as media for specific political, religious, and diplomatic messages. The course will alternate between diachronic readings, monographic lectures and on-site visits. The environments under study will be, in particular: Medici Florence, Visconti-Sforza Milan, Urbino, Mantua, Rome and the Papal States, Naples, the Republic of Venice, and Charles V's Granada.
