OVERVIEW

The course in Monumental Arts of the Middle Ages in Europe is monographic in nature. The aim of the course is to critically examine issues relating to the sculpture, painting and architecture of medieval Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean. Particular attention is paid to “dynamic” artistic phenomena such as the interrelationship between different artistic techniques and geographical areas.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to tackle and analyse themes dealing with medieval architecture and figurative arts in a European perspective with specific attention to “dynamic” artistic phenomena of interrelation between different cultural areas.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide a solid knowledge-base of the subject matter and, above all, to provide students with a practical methodological example that can be referred to when critically addressing any research topic. For this reason, particular emphasis will be placed on detailed examination of the artwork, including from the viewpoint of technique, stylistic analysis, the use of photography as a tool for the investigation of works of art, the identification and use of documents and sources, the study of the subject-matter and artists in their historical context, and the function and symbolic value of the work of art for the patron(s) who commissioned it.

More generally, the teaching of the Monumental Arts of the Middle Ages in Europe has the following objectives:

 - to consolidate and increase the knowledge and methodologies acquired by students during the three-year BA course;

- to provide students with a wealth of specific knowledge in relation to a given subject;

- to equip students with correct, appropriate and professional skills of expression and communication;

- to guide students to enable them to work independently in order to address a subject or topic, a problem, personality or artistic phenomenon of the Medieval period in terms that are critically and historically correct, so as to support and encourage the continuation of their studies and, if appropriate, in the field of research;

- to motivate students to study, preserve and defend our historical and artistic heritage.

PREREQUISITES

General and specific knowledge gained from passing the Medieval Art History exam during the three-year BA degree course is considered a necessary prerequisite.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of 20 two-hour lectures, for a total of 40 hours.

Lectures are held in person and are conducted in Italian.

Attendance, although not compulsory, is strongly recommended.

Teaching is lecture-based and makes use of PowerPoint presentations, which will be made available on the course’s Aulaweb page. In this regard, please note that it is necessary to register on the Aulaweb portal, which is an essential tool for communicating and for access to materials useful for study and for the final exam.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

In the 2026/2027 academic year, the course programme has the following title: “Giovanni di Balduccio: a Pisan sculptor in early 14th-century Italy”.

These are some of the specific topics that will be covered during the course:

- Pisa between 13th and 14th centuries;

- Giovanni di Balduccio in the Pisan context: the Camposanto Monumentale and the Dominican complex of Santa Caterina;

- Castracani family between the Lunigiana and the Garfagnana regions;

- Florence in the 14th century: the works of Giovanni di Balduccio and his patrons;

- The Paragone of the arts: painting and sculpture in the Middle Ages;

- Giovanni di Balduccio in Lombardy: Milan in the 14th century, the Visconti family and other patrons, Pavia.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For students attending classes:

1) The PowerPoint presentations available on the course’s Aulaweb page;

2) The following contributions:

• F. Girelli, Giovanni di Balduccio prima di Milano. La scalata al successo, 1326-1335, Perugia 2023;
• L. Cavazzini, Trecento lombardo e visconteo, in Arte lombarda dai Visconti agli Sforza, catalogo della mostra (Milano, Palazzo Reale, 12 marzo – 28 giugno 2015), a cura di M. Natale, S. Romano, Milano 2015, pp. 47-55 (Aulaweb page);
• M. Rossi, Milano 1335-1336. I luoghi di Giotto, in Giotto, l’Italia, catalogo della mostra (Milano, Palazzo Reale, 2 settembre 2015 - 10 gennaio 2016), a cura di S. Romano, P. Petraroia, Milano 2015, pp. 184-193 (Aulaweb page);
• E. Carli, Giovanni di Balduccio a Milano, in C. Bertelli (a cura di), Il Millennio Ambrosiano, 3 voll., Milano 1987-1989, III [1989, La nuova città dal Comune alla Signoria], pp. 70-103;
• Le residenze viscontee da Palazzo Reale a San Giovanni in Conca, a cura di S. Romano e M. Rossi, Cinisello Balsamo 2023, i seguenti saggi: 1) M. Rossi, La Crocifissione, pp. 82-87 2) S. Romano, Giotto in Palazzo Reale, pp. 126-133 3) F. Girelli, Giovanni di Balduccio e il sepolcro di Azzone Visconti, pp. 134-143;
• F. Girelli, L’Arca di sant’Agostino e Giovanni di Balduccio. Storia, committenza e paternità, in Agostino e la sua Arca a Pavia. Tredici secoli di storia, cultura, arte e vita civile, a cura di R. Dionigi, Busto Arsizio 2023, pp. 123-135 (Aulaweb page).

For a general overview of Gothic sculpture in Italy, see J.W. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Gothic Sculpture, London 1955.

Any changes to the reading list will be posted on the course’s Aulaweb page.

For non-attending students:

1) The PowerPoint presentations available on the course’s Aulaweb page;

2) The following contributions:

• F. Girelli, Giovanni di Balduccio prima di Milano. La scalata al successo, 1326-1335, Perugia 2023;
• L. Cavazzini, Trecento lombardo e visconteo, in Arte lombarda dai Visconti agli Sforza, catalogo della mostra (Milano, Palazzo Reale, 12 marzo – 28 giugno 2015), a cura di M. Natale, S. Romano, Milano 2015, pp. 47-55 (Aulaweb page);
• M. Rossi, Milano 1335-1336. I luoghi di Giotto, in Giotto, l’Italia, catalogo della mostra (Milano, Palazzo Reale, 2 settembre 2015 - 10 gennaio 2016), a cura di S. Romano, P. Petraroia, Milano 2015, pp. 184-193 (Aulaweb page);
• E. Carli, Giovanni di Balduccio a Milano, in C. Bertelli (a cura di), Il Millennio Ambrosiano, 3 voll., Milano 1987-1989, III [1989, La nuova città dal Comune alla Signoria], pp. 70-103;
• Le residenze viscontee da Palazzo Reale a San Giovanni in Conca, a cura di S. Romano e M. Rossi, Cinisello Balsamo 2023, i seguenti saggi: 1) M. Rossi, La Crocifissione, pp. 82-87 2) S. Romano, Giotto in Palazzo Reale, pp. 126-133 3) F. Girelli, Giovanni di Balduccio e il sepolcro di Azzone Visconti, pp. 134-143;
• F. Girelli, L’Arca di sant’Agostino e Giovanni di Balduccio. Storia, committenza e paternità, in Agostino e la sua Arca a Pavia. Tredici secoli di storia, cultura, arte e vita civile, a cura di R. Dionigi, Busto Arsizio 2023, pp. 123-135 (Aulaweb page).

3) bibliografia aggiuntiva rispetto al programma per frequentanti

• Text (C. Di Fabio, Cantieri, scultori ed episodi di committenza nel Trecento) and catalogue entries in Niveo de Marmore. L’uso artistico del marmo di Carrara dall’XI al XV secolo, catalogo della mostra (Sarzana, La Cittadella, 1 marzo - 3 maggio 1992), a cura di E. Castelnuovo, Genova 1992, pp. 223-233, pp. 268-270 catt. 84-85;
• A. Fiderer Moskowitz, Italian Gothic sculpture: c. 1250 - c. 1400, Cambridge 2001, pp. pp. 63-67, 83-90, 94-96, 102-109, 110-114, 131-145, 199-214 (Aulaweb page);
• Text (I resti della facciata di Santa Maria di Brera) and catalogue entries in M.T. Fiorio, G.A. Vergani, C. Pirovano (a cura di), Museo d’Arte Antica del Castello Sforzesco. Scultura lapidea, 4 voll., Milano 2012-2015, I [2012], pp. 413-415, pp. 423-425 catt. 448-449, pp. 427-429 cat. 453, pp. 431-438 catt.460-464:
• F. Cengarle, I gruppi scultorei delle porte milanesi: una forma di comunicazione politica?, «Arte Lombarda», n.s., 172/3, 2014 (ma 2015), pp. 24-29.

For a general overview of Gothic sculpture in Italy, see J.W. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Gothic Sculpture, London 1955.

Any changes to the reading list will be posted on the course’s Aulaweb page.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

22th February 2027

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is oral, and takes the form of an interview; it will be held in Italian and will be conducted as follows:

- students are first asked to present a topic, problem, monument or work of art of their choice (from within the framework of the programme);

- the commission will then ask them to identify and date one or more works of art and/or discuss a topic, problem, concept, phenomenon, artefact or type of artefact, a context, again within the framework of the course programme. Students will be asked at least three questions, each covering a different topic.

IMPORTANT:

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING WITH YOU THE MATERIALS NECESSARY TO TAKE THE EXAM (TEXTBOOKS, IMAGES and PWP ON A USB STICK)

To accommodate students’ needs and study schedules, the exam may be taken in one of two ways:

1. as a single oral session following the end of the course; in this case, students will be required to present, within a time limit of half an hour, the topics covered in the syllabus.

2. in two parts, the first of which will take place during the final lesson of the course and will be in written form: it will involve identifying and commenting on ten images (provided by the lecturer) of works of art covered in the first part of the syllabus; the time allowed will be two hours. The second exam will be oral and will take place after the end of the course; it will cover the remaining part of the course and will last half an hour. In this case, the final mark will be calculated as the arithmetic mean of the two partial marks obtained.

IMPORTANT:

FROM THE MOMENT YOU HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM FOR ONE OF THE TWO MODULES THAT MAKE UP THE COURSE “MEDIEVAL ART” 12 credits (Monumental Arts of the Middle Ages in Europe, 6 credits, or Applied Arts of the Middle Ages, 6 credits), THE EXAM OF THE MISSING MODULE (NECESSARY FOR THE RECORDING OF THE OVERALL FINAL GRADE IN IN YOUR ACADEMIC RECORD) MUST BE TAKEN, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, WITHIN AND NO LATER THAN THE THREE SUBSEQUENT EXAM SESSIONS.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam is oral and involves the use of images from the textbooks and those used in the lectures, which have been made available to students.

The assessment evaluates the knowledge and understanding of the bibliography, the ability to make connections between the topics covered, critical thinking and personal reflection, and the appropriateness of the presentation.

A pass is considered to have been achieved if the student demonstrates that they have acquired the fundamental knowledge taught during the course.

Excellence is considered to have been reached if the student demonstrates an assured command of the programme as presented in the lectures, showing that they have explored and developed the topics of the course with a critical contribution that is their own, argued with appropriate language.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with disabilities or DSAs are reminded that in order to apply for adaptations in the exam, they must first enter their certification on the University website at http://servizionline.unige.it in the “Students” section. The documentation will be verified by the University's Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and DSA Sector (https://rubrica.unige.it/strutture/struttura/100111).

Subsequently, significantly in advance (at least 10 days) of the examination date, an e-mail must be sent to the teacher with whom the examination will be taken, including in the knowledge copy both the School's Referring Teacher for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and with DSA (elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it<mailto:elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it>) and the Sector indicated above. The e-mail should specify:

- the name of the teaching;

- the date of the roll call;

- the student's last name, first name and roll number;

- the compensatory tools and dispensatory measures deemed functional and required.

The contact person will confirm to the teacher that the applicant has the right to request adaptations in the examination and that these adaptations must be agreed upon with the teacher. The lecturer will respond by informing whether the requested adaptations can be used.

Requests should be sent at least 10 days before the date of the call in order to allow the lecturer to evaluate the content. In particular, in the case of intending to make use of concept maps for the exam (which must be much more concise than the maps used for study) if the submission does not meet the deadline there will be no technical time to make any adjustments.

For further information regarding the request for services and adaptations visit the web page: https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/modulistica.