ART 320 The Art of the Baroque World
Seventeenth-century Europe was a period of intense religious reform, economic and scientific developments, and the growth of and challenges to political absolutism. As European colonies and trade routes solidified following the Age of Discovery, these developments resulted in theatrical, dramatic, emotional and psychologically engaging works of art and architecture created across the world in a global Baroque. This course explores painting, sculpture, printmaking, book production, luxury arts, and architecture in both Europe and its colonies and trading partners across the seas. We will explore visual culture from the Vatican to Versailles to the villages of Holland, meeting characters such as the mischievous Caravaggio, the showman Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the courtly Peter Paul Rubens and Diego Velázquez, and the elusive Johannes Vermeer, as well as the prints and books of daily life used for worship, political satires, and romance. We will also investigate the impacts of European art globally, from both admiring emperors and colonial subjects striving to retain their identity, as well as European responses to a wealth of novel global goods. No prerequisite. Open to students in all disciplines. Fulfills the Explorations in Fine Arts course requirement.
Cross Listed Courses
ART 320 & ART 620