Ateneo - UPO

The Artist in Art History Sources before Vasari.

Bibliography. Attending Students.
- Julius Schlosser Magnino, La Letteratura Artistica, La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1996 ed edizioni seguenti, parts indicated in class (book online).
- Kris, Ernst, Kurz, Otto, La leggenda dell’artista, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1989, ristampa 2019, le seguenti parti: ‘Presentazione’ di Enrico Castelnuovo, ‘Prefazione’ di Ernst Gombrich, ‘Prefazione’ degli autori, pp. VII-XX; ‘Introduzione’, pp. 1-12; cap. 1 (‘L’eroicizzazione dell’artista’), pp. 13-59. (In commercio; DISUM Library = 709.KRISE.1).
- Collareta, Marco, “Coscienza di sé e coscienza storica in Lorenzo Ghiberti”, in Ghiberti Teorico. Natura, arte e coscienza storica nel Quattrocento, Officina Libraria, Milano 2019, pp. 29-33. (Materials on D.I.R.).
- Lorenzo Ghiberti, I Commentari (Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, II, 333), a cura di Lorenzo Bartoli, Biblioteca della scienza italiana, 17, Giunti, Firenze 1998, parts indicated in class. (Materiale su D.I.R.).
- parts indicated in class: G. Vasari, Le Vite, edizione Giuntina del 1568, consultabile online. L’edizione consigliata per questa opera è la seguente: Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568, ed. by Rosanna Bettarini and Paola Barocchi, Sansoni Editore, Firenze 1966-1987. (DISUM Library and available online).
The texts of the sources of the Artistic Literature that will be read, as well as short essays will be indicated during the lessons and (possibly) made available on the D.I.R.
For those who do not have a good basic knowledge, at least at the school level, we recommend reading a good Art History manual.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS.
- Donata Levi, Il discorso sull'arte. Dalla tarda antichità a Ghiberti, Bruno Mondadori, Milano-Torino 2010, capitolo 6. (in commercio; DISUM Library = 701.18.LEVID.1).
- Barbara Agosti, Giorgio Vasari. Luoghi e tempi della Vite, Officina Libraria, Milano 2013 (ed edizioni successive). (In commercio; DISUM Library = 709.02.VASAG.AGOSB.1).
- Kris, Ernst, Kurz, Otto, La leggenda dell’artista, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1989, ristampa 2019, incluse la ‘Presentazione’ di Enrico Castelnuovo, la ‘Prefazione’ di Ernst Gombrich, la ‘Prefazione’ degli autori. (In commercio; DISUM Library = 709.KRISE.1).

NOTE: THE BIBLIOGRAPHY MUST BE STUDIED CAREFULLY IN EACH PART, AVOIDING LIMITING YOURSELF TO THE NOTES TAKEN DURING THE LESSONS.

The course has a series of training objectives divided into two levels.

At a basic level, the course provides knowledge and understanding, i.e. knowledge of a series of critical tools to be acquired by reading and analyzing some of the fundamental sources of the Artistic Literature of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
It also provides adequate ability to apply knowledge and understanding in the ability to read and understand a source of 15th and 16th century Art Literature.
At an advanced level, in relation to the student's training, the course has the following training objectives:
• expression of judgments: the course intends to provide the student with disciplinary lexical properties.
• communication skills: the course also aims to develop the student's ability to apply the knowledge acquired by demonstrating the ability to analyze the work of art or the figure of an artist using the sources of Art Literature appropriately.
• study skills: the lessons want to put the student in a position to analyze and describe an artist's biography, also by crossing different sources of Art Literature.

Good knowledge in: Art History.
Basic knowledge in: Modern History; Modern Italian Literature.
It is recommended and preferable that the student has already attended the Modern Art History course.

Lessons, seminars.

Patrizia Zambrano's e-mail address is: patrizia.zambrano@uniupo.it.
Patrizia Zambrano’s studio is at the Department of Humanities, Palazzo Tartara, Vercelli, via G. Ferraris 109, IInd floor, studio 31.
Registration to the D.I.R. it is necessary to receive communications, as well as to be able to acquire teaching materials that will be made available on D.I.R. All students interested in receiving information and updates are therefore invited to register for the course on D.I.R. All students interested in receiving information and updates are invited to enroll in D.I.R. and to participate in the forum.

Verification of learning takes place through an oral exam lasting about thirty minutes.
The exam aims to assess the student's ability to apply the knowledge acquired during the course, to verify the autonomy of judgment, the ability to use the disciplinary vocabulary and communication skills. It consists of an interview, divided into 4-5 questions and focuses on the topics covered in class and on the assigned bibliography *.

The final exam consists of an interview of 4-5 questions and addresses the topics dealt with in the class and the bibliography assigned*. During the exam it is advisable to have the images of the course with you.
The questions concern the texts, the conceptual junctions, the lexicons analyzed during the lessons, the history, and the contexts of reference (e.g. the archetypal figures of the legend of the artist in antiquity, the social role of the artist in the early Renaissance and his evolution, Lorenzo Ghiberti and the artist's autobiography, the construction of the figure of Giotto, etc.).

Vote of the exam is valuated in 30/30 points and based on the following parameters:
1) knowledge of the main and principal notions presented in the lessons and in the texts indicated in the bibliography * (18 points out of 30);
2) critical reasoning capability and associations and connections (6 out of 30);
3) ability to discourse knowledge and to express it effectively and linearly, using the specialized vocabulary, where needed (6 out of 30).

* For non-attending Students, only on the assigned bibliography.

The course is of advanced type and has as a prerequisite a good knowledge of the Art History textbook.

The main subject of the course concerns the is the sources and documents of the “Letteratura Artistica”, especially with regards to the sources about the social role of the Artist between Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. The course is articulated by reading a series of texts, in particular studying the vocabulary used to describe different art techniques by the leading authors of Renaissance Art Literature: Cennino Cennini, Leon Battista Alberti, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Giorgio Vasari in their texts and treatises on Renaissance art and Artists.
Lessons 1-2: Introduction to the course and to Art Literature. The ancient matrices of genres.
Lessons 3-5: The figure of the Artist between Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the birth of the artist's biography.
Lessons 6-7: The Artist between the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance.
Lessons 8-16: Cennino Cennini, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Leon Battista Alberti.
Lessons 17-18: The Artist on the threshold of the Modern Manner, examples in the ‘Lives’ of Giorgio Vasari.

In order to achieve the knowledge, skills and abilities corresponding to the expected learning levels (basic and advanced) the student is required to do the following

To achieve a basic level, the student must demonstrate:
- Knowledge and understanding: having acquired the knowledge of the main sources of the Artistic Literature of the 15th century. Knowing how to give the correct definition of 'Art Literature' in the specificity of the discipline (what is it?) And in its main functions (what is it for?).
- Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: to be able to read and understand the texts of Art Literature analyzed in class.
Transversal skills
- Autonomy of judgment: to be able, starting from the reading of the source of the Art Literature, to be able to describe and interpret the links and links that exist between sources, works and artists.
- Communication skills: reading, analyzing and enunciating in the form of a critical comment the themes of the text of the Artistic Literature, even if it is complex, even if written in the vernacular and not in Latin, relating it to the thematic, stylistic and iconographic developments of the work of a artist. Demonstrate therefore that you know how to make sources of Art Literature, artist biography and work of art interact in an articulated form.
- Learning skills: knowing and knowing how to use the disciplinary lexicon useful for reading sources and documents relating to works of art and artists.

For the achievement of an advanced level, the student must demonstrate:
- Knowledge and understanding: to know the main authors and texts of the Artistic Literature of the Renaissance; demonstrate that they know how to use the sources of Art Literature in reading works of art and the figure of the artist.
- Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: to be able to use easily and without hesitation the lexicon used in the sources analyzed and used (from Cennino Cennini to Vasari) and to articulate the analysis of a text in a simple form, however placing it in relation to a 'work or a series of works of art so as to highlight the existing and underlying relationships between them.
Transversal skills
- Autonomy of judgment: ability to read a work of art and the figure of the Artist or group of Artists or artistic phenomenon in relation to sources and documents of the Art Literature, using the sources themselves and documents to find salient information such as autography, chronology, contexts, provenance and collecting, taste and ancient functions of a work of art.
- Communication skills: knowing, with competence and fluency, to illustrate to a group of non-specialist listeners, using disciplinary language and lexicon, the main characters and contents of a work of art, outlining the personality of the Artist in a clear and competent way who created it and outlining the cultural context in which it was produced and exists.
- Learning skills: knowing how to deduce the historical and social role of the Artist; reading and understanding, also through the knowledge of the historical lexicon, texts, documents and works of art of the Modern Age related to the historical and artistic contexts; knowing how to deduce the historical-cultural role of an artefact and knowing how to relate it to the contemporary context in the Italian society.