OVERVIEW

The course of History of Medieval Art aims to offer a concise but complete picture of the artistic production in the Italian, European and Mediterranean area from the beginning of the fourth to the early fifteenth century (about 313-1400), that is, from the age of Constantine to the international Gothic included.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The "Medieval Art History" course aims to provide a historical overview of the arts of Western and Byzantine Europe between the Paleochristian age and the early fifteenth century.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Medieval Art History course aims to provide an overview of artistic production in the area of Western Europe and Byzantium from the beginning of the 4th to the early 15th century (ca. 313-1400), that is, from the age of Constantine to the International Gothic period included, with extensive references to the production of other civilizations, such as the Islamic, which from the 7th century CE emerged on the Mediterranean scene.

Primary educational objectives of the course are:

- to acquaint students with the typical and specific characteristics and functions of artistic production during the centuries that are defined as the "Middle Ages";

- to make them understand the role - specific, irreplaceable and in each period peculiar - that such production played, also as an instrument of communication and symbolic domination, in the individual periods and geographical areas indicated above, as well as its relationship with other aspects of political and social dialectics, culture, mentalities and religious beliefs and practices;

- to promote in students individual methodological skills to be applied consciously and critically in order to: to analyse, decode, discuss and evaluate, from a historical perspective, the messages conveyed by works of figurative art across different periods; and to be able to identify, understand and describe the material, technical, iconographic and stylistic characteristics of a wide variety of medieval artworks.

Other, more general but no less important objectives are:

- to help each student develop the ability to form their own judgements, enabling them to understand these artefacts as historical and cultural documents and as tools for communicating complex and multifaceted social, political and institutional structures;

-  to develop, enhance and specialise students’ presentation and communication skills, so as to support and encourage them to continue their studies at higher levels and, where appropriate, in the field of research.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired the basic knowledge of medieval art history required for entry to master’s degree programmes in archaeology, philology, history and art history, and will be able:

- to place works, phenomena and artists in their proper chronological order, linking the artefacts to the historical context and the society in which they were produced;

- to present the topics covered in the course materials and during lectures with a critical eye;

- to apply the acquired theoretical knowledge to concrete case studies.

The expected learning outcomes are clearly differentiated according to the number of credits awarded (see Syllabus/Content and Recommended reading/Bibliography):

- 6 ects: from Early Christian art to the Romanesque period;

- 9 ects credits: from Early Christian art to Giotto;

- 12 ects credits: from Early Christian art to the International Gothic period.

PREREQUISITES

A good grounding in the history of the medieval Euro-Mediterranean world, the history of literature and the history of medieval philosophy is required, within the scope of the upper secondary school curriculum.

TEACHING METHODS

Classes are held in person. Attendance, although not mandatory, is strongly recommended.

Only students who attend lectures in presence are considered to be attending.

PowerPoint presentations will be used during the lectures and will be made available to students via Aulaweb platform.

All students (including non-attending ones) MUST register on Aulaweb platform in order to stay informed about the course schedule (e.g. any changes to the timetable) and any cultural initiatives relevant to the specific educational objectives of the course.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Programme for students taking the course for 6 cfu:

- Early Christian Art: monuments and artworks. Rome, Milan, Ravenna

- Art of Longobard period

- Art of the Carolingian period

- Art of the Ottonian period

-Mediterranean civilisations: Byzantium and Islam

- Italy and Europe between the 11th and 12th centuries: monasteries, pilgrimages, trade routes

- The arts of the Romanesque period in Europe (11th–12th centuries)

- The arts of the Romanesque period in Italy (11th–12th centuries)

Programme for students taking the course for 9 cfu:

- Early Christian Art: monuments and artworks. Rome, Milan, Ravenna

- Art of Longobard period

- Art of the Carolingian period

- Art of the Ottonian period

-Mediterranean civilisations: Byzantium and Islam

- Italy and Europe between the 11th and 12th centuries: monasteries, pilgrimages, trade routes

- The arts of the Romanesque period in Europe (11th–12th centuries)

- The arts of the Romanesque period in Italy (11th–12th centuries)

- The «opus francigenum» in Europe

- The Cistercians, the Mendicant orders and the reception of the «opus francigenum» in Italy

- Frederick II and southern Italy

- Nicola and Giovanni Pisano

- Arnolfo di Cambio

- Thirteenth-Century Painting in Italy

- Cimabue

- The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi: architecture and painted decoration

- Giotto and his career

Programme for students taking the course for 12 cfu:

- Early Christian Art: monuments and artworks. Rome, Milan, Ravenna

- Art of Longobard period

- Art of the Carolingian period

- Art of the Ottonian period

-Mediterranean civilisations: Byzantium and Islam

- Italy and Europe between the 11th and 12th centuries: monasteries, pilgrimages, trade routes

- The arts of the Romanesque period in Europe (11th–12th centuries)

- The arts of the Romanesque period in Italy (11th–12th centuries)

- The «opus francigenum» in Europe

- The Cistercians, the Mendicant orders and the reception of the «opus francigenum» in Italy

- Frederick II and southern Italy

- Nicola and Giovanni Pisano

- Arnolfo di Cambio

- Thirteenth-Century Painting in Italy

- Cimabue

- The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi: architecture and painted decoration

- Giotto and his career

- Gothic painting in Siena: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti

- Avignon and the papal Curia

- International Gothic art in Italy

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for students taking the course for 6 cfu:

- Antonio Pinelli, Le ragioni della bellezza. 2. Dalla Tarda Antichità a Giotto, Loescher Editore, Torino, 2012 (RED EDITION), pp. 1-257 (scans uploaded to the Aulaweb platform);

- the PowerPoint presentations shown during the lectures and uploaded to the Aulaweb platform, relating to the 6-credit section of the syllabus (see Syllabus/Content).

Bibliography for students taking the course for 9 cfu:

- Antonio Pinelli, Le ragioni della bellezza. 2. Dalla Tarda Antichità a Giotto, Loescher Editore, Torino, 2012 (RED EDITION), pp. 1-413 (scans uploaded to the Aulaweb platform);

- the PowerPoint presentations shown during the lectures and uploaded to the Aulaweb platform, relating to the 9-credit section of the syllabus (see Syllabus/Content).

Bibliography for students taking the course for 12 ects:

- Antonio Pinelli, Le ragioni della bellezza. 2. Dalla Tarda Antichità a Giotto, Loescher Editore, Torino, 2012 (RED EDITION), all the pages (scans uploaded to the Aulaweb platform);

- Elda Cerchiari, Pierluigi De Vecchi, Arte nel tempo. 2. Dal Gotico Internazionale alla Maniera Moderna, Bompiani, Milano 1991 (and subsequent editions), vol. 1, pp. 2-45;

- the PowerPoint presentations shown during the lectures and uploaded to the Aulaweb platform, relating to the 12-credit section of the syllabus (see Syllabus/Content).

ADDITIONAL READING FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

In addition to the guidelines above, non-attending students are required to read one or more chapters from the book Artifex bonus. Il mondo dell’artista medievale (edited by E. Castelnuovo, Turin 2004), specifically:

- the introduction + 1 chapter of your choice for those taking the 6-credit course (up to p. 101);

- the introduction + 2 chapters of your choice for those taking the 9-credit course (up to p. 167);

- the introduction + 3 chapters of your choice for those taking the 12-credit course (up to the end).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

First semester: September 21, 2026

Second semester: February 22, 2027

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination is oral, in the form of an interview; it will be conducted in Italian and will take place as follows:

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

- the examination board will then ask the student to identify, recognise and place one or more works of art in their historical context, and/or to discuss a theme, an issue, a concept, a phenomenon, an artwork or a category of artefacts, or a field of study, always in relation to the syllabus covered. The student will be asked at least three questions, each of which will be distinct from the others.

IMPORTANT:

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING THE MATERIALS REQUIRED TO TAKE THE EXAM (TEXTBOOKS, IMAGES AND PWP ON A USB KEY)

At the end of the first semester, students taking the 6-credit course will be eligible to take the exam (on the dates specified in the examination timetable) from the December 2026 session onwards.

Students taking the 9-credit course will have to wait until the end of the course and the next available examination session (May 2027).

For students following the 12-credit course, AND ONLY IN THIS CASE, it is possible to take the exam in two parts: the first 6 credits (from Early Christian Art to the Romanesque period) and subsequently the remaining 6 credits (from the Opus Francigenum to the International Gothic; see Syllabus/Content and Recommended Reading/Bibliography). It will be possible to assess knowledge of the first 6 ects credits from the December 2026 session onwards, whilst for the remaining 6 ects credits, students will have to wait until the end of the course and the first available examination session (May 2027).

It remains possible, from the May 2027 session onwards, to cover the entire syllabus in its entirety in a single oral examination, just as it remains possible to divide it into two parts, provided that the assessment of the remaining 6 credits (required for the recording of the final overall degree mark) takes place no later than the three subsequent examination sessions. Anyone taking the second part of the exam after this deadline will have the first part CANCELLED and will have to take it again.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam is oral and involves the use of images taken from the textbooks and those used during lectures, which are made available to students in the form of PowerPoint presentations uploaded to Aulaweb platform.

The evaluation concerns knowledge and skills; specifically, the following will be assessed:

- the ability to respond in compliance with and consistency with the proposed question;

- the ability to discuss the contents expressing specific linguistic knowledge;

- the specific knowledge of the topics covered;

- the ability to analyse images; to refer them to an artist and / or an era and to argue the judgment;

- the ability to broaden the analysis by correlating artistic products and historical-cultural phenomena, in the broadest sense of the term.

Depending on the extent to which these knowledge and skills have been acquired, marks will be awarded according to the following criteria:

1. to achieve a distinction (marks ranging from 28 inclusive to 30 with honours), the candidate must demonstrate excellent general knowledge, the ability to identify and analyse the artefacts presented, and to establish connections, including interdisciplinary ones; a willingness and aptitude for discussion and in-depth analysis; and a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the issues;

2. an acceptable but largely rote knowledge of the subject, a superficial analysis and language that is correct but not always appropriate will result in a mark ranging from ‘good’ (marks from 25 to 27 inclusive) to ‘satisfactory’ (marks of 23 and 24);

3. knowledge that is at times patchy, a superficial understanding, an inconsistent ability to analyse, discuss and place the artistic works under consideration in their chronological and historical context, and simplistic or approximate modes of expression may be deemed sufficient (18–22);

4. obvious and significant gaps in knowledge, poor comprehension and analytical skills, inappropriate language, and a lack of understanding regarding the historical and stylistic context of the works and the topics covered in class will be penalised.

FURTHER INFORMATION

1. EVERY STUDENT MUST BRING THE MATERIALS REQUIRED TO TAKE THE EXAM IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR COURSE SYLLABUS (TEXTBOOKS, IMAGES AND PWP ON A USB KEY)

2. Students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities (DSA).are reminded that in order to be able to request adaptations in examinations they must first enter their certification on the University website at http://servizionline.unige.it in the ‘Students’ section. The documentation will be checked by the University's Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and DSA Sector (https://rubrica.unige.it/strutture/struttura/100111).

Subsequently, well in advance (at least 10 days) of the exam date, an e-mail must be sent to the teacher with whom the exam is to be taken, including in the copy the School's Referring Teacher for the inclusion of students with disabilities and with DSA (elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it) and the Sector indicated above. The e-mail must specify

- the name of the teaching course;

- the date of the call;

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

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

The School's Referring Teacher person will confirm to the teacher that the applicant has the right to request adaptations during the examination and that these adaptations must be agreed upon with the teacher. The lecturer will respond by stating whether the requested adaptations can be used.

Requests must be sent at least 10 days before the date of the exam in order to allow the teacher to assess their content. In particular, in the case of concept maps for the exam (which must be much more concise than the maps used for studying) if the submission does not meet the deadline, there will be no technical time to make any changes.

For further information on the request for services and adaptations, please consult the website: https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/modulistica.