High Renaissance to Baroque

High Renaissance to Baroque

YEAR COURSE: Study the art, architecture and decorative arts of Europe from the High Renaissance to Baroque focussing on Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and England.

Wednesdays, 19 September 2012 – 10 July 2013 (over 3 terms), 11.00–15.30

During this period the Renaissance filtered through Europe from Italy, affecting all the arts. The invention of printing meant that books and prints reached a new and wider audience, and quickly popularised new styles. At the same time the Reformation wrought havoc with the established order and a century of war and revolution followed. In some parts of Europe iconoclasm meant the destruction of religious art, and by the mid 17th century Europe was divided into Roman Catholic and Protestant states. The course will examine the changes in patronage, with the rise of a prosperous middle class wanting portraits and genre paintings as well as consumer goods such as maiolica and textiles, and consider the effect of wars and economic policies on the production of art, metalwork and furniture, and the influence of trading voyages on imports of luxury goods from the East.

See www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/1791/high-renaissance-to-baroque-1213-2963/ for the full study programme.

Image © Victoria & Albert Museum