OVERVIEW

The course aims to offer a rich and accurate overview of the discussions related to the world of art and artists in the modern age, with a focus on the centuries between the 19th and 21th centuries. Alongside the affirmation of the teaching of art history as a discipline within the academic and university worlds, with a particular focus on the Italian context, the lectures of the coming academic year will examine the peculiarities of the school of Aby Warburg, with particular attention to the figure of Erwin Panofsky, who was able to continue and safeguard the teaching of the Hamburg master, spreading it to the United States.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching aims to offer an overview of discussions related to the world of art and artists in the modern age, with particular attention to the period between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. The emergence of the teaching of art history as a discipline within the academic and university world will also be examined, with a particular regard for the Italian reality.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with a summary of discussions on the arts, with a focus on those of the modern period (18th-20th centuries), as well as to illustrate and discuss the sources used by scholars as material for their writings.
Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which the teaching of art criticism has gradually changed, particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ample prominence will then be given to the research of Erwin Panofsky, who was able to continue and extend the studies initiated by Aby Warburg, and to disseminate them in the United States.
The ultimate and most ambitious aim of the course will be to provide students with a full mastery of the methodologies employed as well as the lexicon used by art criticism as it has evolved over time.

PREREQUISITES

As the course will cover the historical period from the 19th to the 21st century, it is highly recommended to have taken and passed the Art Literature course.

TEACHING METHODS

Classes are held in presence. Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended. Only students who attend lessons in person are considered to be attending.
The teacher, at the specific request of each student received by e-mail, allows the lectures and related recordings to be used remotely via the Teams platform (but students who have not attended the lectures in person cannot be considered as attending).
Please remember to subscribe to the course's Aulaweb, an indispensable tool for communication and access to materials useful for study and for the final exam.
The teacher will in fact make supplementary materials useful for exam preparation available on AulaWeb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course programme includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:
- The tools of art-historical research: sources, archival documentation, figurative documentation and related historiography.
- The history of art historiography from Luigi Lanzi to the 20th century.
- The school of Aby Warburg and especially the figure of Erwin Panofsky.
- Paths of art-historical research with special focus on questions of periodisation, definition of styles, examination of production processes, circulation of artefacts and collecting.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography (the programme is intended for attending students):

L. Venturi, Storia della critica d'arte, Turin, Einaudi, 2000;
La storia delle storie dell'arte, edited by O. Rossi Pinelli, Turin, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 2014;
G.C. Sciolla, La critica d'arte del Novecento, Turin, Utet, 1995.  
The following volume is highly recommended reading:
E. Panofsky, Renaissance and renascences in Western art, New York, Harper & Row, 1972 (or other edition).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes will start in the week of 22/26 September 2025 (the exact date as well as the time and classroom will be announced as soon as possible).

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examinations will be conducted orally.

Details on how to prepare for the examination and the degree of depth required for each topic will be provided in the course of the lessons.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The assessment will take the form of an oral examination that will test: knowledge and understanding of the bibliography; the ability to make connections between the topics covered; critical and personal reflection skills.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The examinations will take place in the teacher's office (Via Balbi 4, 3rd floor).
An intermediate written exam is foreseen, which will focus on the topics dealt with in the first part of the Course and will allow - if passed with a mark equal to or higher than 24/30 - to reduce the number of texts to be brought to the exam, since the following essay will be removed: La storia delle storie dell'arte, edited by O. Rossi Pinelli, Turin, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 2014.