HIST 318A Renaissance Rome
Rome is a multi-layered city whose history is inscribed in its material fabric. This course will excavate the Early and High Renaissance layers of Rome through its many monuments - both material and written. Using the papal court as our lens, the course examines the Renaissance in Rome by looking at power and patronage in the city from the mid-fourteenth century to the decades after the Sack of Rome. Among the literary monuments we will read and discuss are those by Petrarch, Machiavelli, and Castiglione. In the built environment of the city, we will examine Roman churches, palaces, and piazzas, along with artistic commissions of tombs, altarpieces, and monumental fresco cycles, including the works of major architects and artists such as Bramante, Michelangelo and Raphael.