OVERVIEW

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

In the lessons of the coming academic year, the peculiarities of Aby Warburg's school will be examined, with particular focus on the figure of Fritz Saxl, who was able to continue and safeguard the teachings of his master, and succeeded in bringing the Warburg Library to safety in London.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to offer a rich and precise 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 synthesis of discussions on the arts, with particular attention to those of the modern period (18th-20th century), as well as to illustrate and discuss the sources used by scholars as a subject for their writings. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which the teaching of art criticism has gradually changed, in particular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ample prominence will then be given to the research of Fritz Saxl, who was able to continue and expand the studies begun by his master Aby Warburg, saving the precious legacy of the Library set up in Hamburg and transferred to London after Hitler's seizure of power in Germany. Therefore, the ultimate and most ambitious purpose of the course will be to provide students with a full mastery of the methodologies used as well as the vocabulary employed by art criticism as it evolves over time.

PREREQUISITES

To understand the contents of the course effectively, a good knowledge of the history of art of  modern and contemporary art is required.

TEACHING METHODS

Classes are held in person. Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended. The lecturer, at the specific request of a student (by e-mail), may allow him/her to follow classes remotely via “Teams” platform and to view class recordings.

The teacher will make available on AulaWeb supplementary materials useful for the preparation of the exam.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Program for students taking the course:

The course program includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

• The tools of historical-artistic research: sources, archival documentation, figurative documentation and related historiography.
• The history of artistic historiography from Luigi Lanzi to the twentieth century.
•  The school of Aby Warburg and primarily the figure of Fritz Saxl.
• Paths of historical-artistic research with particular attention to the problems concerning the periodization, the definition of styles, the examination of production processes, circulation of artefacts and collecting. 

Students who are NOT attending are required to contact the teacher at the institutional email address (eliana.carrara@unige.it) in order to be able to support a specific program.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for students taking the course:

L. Venturi, Storia della critica d'arte, Torino, Einaudi, 2000;

La storia delle storie dell’arte, a cura di O. Rossi Pinelli, Torino, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 2014;

G.C. Sciolla, La critica d’arte del Novecento, Torino, Utet, 1995.

Highly recommended book:

F. Saxl, La fede negli astri. Dall'antichità al Rinascimento, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2016  (or other edition).

Further bibliography will be provided in class.

Students who are NOT attending are required to contact the teacher at the institutional email address (eliana.carrara@unige.it) in order to be able to support a specific program, which is as follows:

L. Venturi, Storia della critica d'arte, Torino, Einaudi, 2000;

La storia delle storie dell’arte, a cura di O. Rossi Pinelli, Torino, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 2014;

G.C. Sciolla, La critica d’arte del Novecento, Torino, Utet,1995,

two books to be chosen from the following:

F. Saxl, La storia delle immagini, Bari, Laterza, 2000 (or other edition);

F. Saxl, La fede astrologica di Agostino Chigi (interpretazione dei dipinti di Baldassarre Peruzzi nella Sala di Galatea della Farnesina, Roma, Bardi, 2017;

F. Saxl, E. Panofsky, Mitologia classica nell'arte medievale, Torino, Aragno, 2010;

F. Saxl, E. Panofsky, La "Melencolia I" di Dürer. Una ricerca storica sulle fonti e i tipi figurativi, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2018;

E. Panofsky, Il significato nelle arti visive, Torino, Einaudi, 2010;

E. Panofsky, Rinascimento e rinascenze nell'arte occidentale, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2013;

E. Panofsky, Tre saggi sullo stile. Il barocco, il cinema e la Rolls-Royce, Milano, Abscondita, 2015;

E.H. Gombrich, Norma e forma. Studi sull'arte del Rinascimento, Milano, Leonardo Arte, 2003;

E.H. Gombrich, Arte e illusione. Studio sulla psicologia della rappresentazione pittorica, Londra, Phaidon, 2009;

E.H. Gombrich, Immagini e parole, Roma, Carocci, 2019;

E. Pellegrini, La memoria in tasca. Taccuini, immagini, parole, Roma, De Luca, 2021.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ELIANA CARRARA (President)

PAOLO ANTONINO MARIA TRIOLO

ANDREA PAOLINI (Substitute)

ELENA PUTTI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons will start on 19th September 2023, h. 15.00 (classroom 3 [via Balbi 2 - Palazzo Gio Francesco Balbi]);

the course will have the collaboration of Dr Paolini.

Class schedule

HISTORY OF ART CRITICISM

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The verification will be carried out through an oral interview.

There is the possibility of a written intermediate test, which will focus on the topics dealt with in the first part of the Course and will allow - if passed with a mark of 24/30 or higher - to reduce the number of texts to be studied in view of the examination, since the following essay will be eliminated: La storia delle storie dell'arte, edited by O. Rossi Pinelli, Turin, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 2014.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam will aim to ascertain knowledge of the topics covered in class and of the texts assigned for reading.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Examinations will take place in presence.