The many layers of Rome



Italian 499: The Many Layers of Rome

University of Southern California

Summer in Rome 2011

Tuesdays: 3:00-6:30

Instructor: Ezio Genovesi

Email: egenoves@risd.edu

Course description:

This course, chronologically framed between late Republican/early Imperial Rome and Modern Rome, offers students the opportunity to examine works of art and architecture in their specific cultural and historical contexts. The course examines specific themes and critical moments in Roman history and artistic production which contributed to the foundation of Western civilization and aesthetics. There is one general introductory lecture in the classroom and six walking tours in Rome, in which students study works of art and architecture in their specific locations.

The course objectives are to observe and explain the function of works of art by considering them in their original contexts; to explain the different aesthetics employed by artists from ancient to modern Rome; to make formal and stylistic analyses of the conventions utilized by artists and the innovations they introduced; to explain the iconographic language artists use; to learn a vocabulary pertinent to the historical context. Students will be asked to take accurate notes of what they see and learn through close observation, discussions, and assigned readings.

Requirements:

Students are required to attend all walking tours in Rome. In addition, they must participate in all scheduled Program tours to sites outside of Rome that take place on Fridays and weekends. Tours to Pompei (Ercolano and the archeological museum of Naples), Tivoli, Siena, and the region of Umbria (Perugia, Assisi, etc.) are an integral part of the course. The estimated contact hours for these tours is 30. Students are expected to assimilate the lecture information in their written reaction papers.

Three reaction papers in which students explain the main theme of each tour and discuss elements of specific interest are required. In-class oral presentations also constitute a part of the required work. Each student will be asked to analyze and discuss in class specific works of art. At the end of the sixth week, students will submit a three-page final paper.

Grading:

Class Participation: 20%

Students are required to attend all tours in Rome and outside of

Rome, and to engage in conversation with one another and the

professor as part of their on-site visits. Class participation will

include extended discussion of the works of art.

Oral presentation/analyses of art works: 5%

Three reaction papers (15 % each): 45%

Final paper: 30%

Please note:

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to Francesca Italiano before departure to Rome. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776. Email: ability@usc.edu.

Academic Integrity:

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: . Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: .

Calendar and Syllabus:

Week 1:

Mon. May 23, 2011, 3:00-4:30pm

Introduction to Rome: (Classroom in Palazzo Cenci: Piazza Cenci, 56)

Week 1: (Walking tour) 3:00-6:30 pm

1. Tue. May 24, 2011

Ancient Rome (ca 1st C BCE – 2nd C CE)

Tiber island (Temple of Esculapius), Forum Boarium and Forum Olitorium (Market), Roman Forum (Via Sacra and Public Buildings) and Palatine Hill (Imperial Palace).

Reading: Michael Grant, The World of Rome: 211-259

Week 2: (Walking tour) 3:00-6:30 pm

2. Mon. May 30, 2011

Late Roman Empire and Early Christian Rome (ca 4th C CE)

Mausoleum of Costantia (Architecture and Mosaics), Church of St Agnes (Architecture and Mosaics), Catacombs of St. Agnes.

Reading: Michael Grant, The World of Rome: 211-259

Due: Reaction Paper I

Week 3: (Walking tour): 3:00-6:30 pm

3. Tue. June 7, 2011

Mediaeval Rome (6th – 13th C)

Basilicas of SS. Cosma and Damiano (Mosaic, Christian Iconography), Santa Maria in Trastevere (Architecture, Mosaic, Iconography), Santa Cecilia (Mediaeval paintings)

Reading: From Elisabeth Bolt, Paulinus of Nola, The decoration of his churches; Letter of St. Gregory the Great to Bishop Serenus of Marseille: 17-22, 47-48 (photocopies)

Due: Reaction Paper 2

Week 4: (Walking tour) 3:00-7:30pm

4. Tue. June 14, 2011

Renaissance and Baroque Rome (16th-17th C)

Santa Maria Minerva (Michelangelo). Visit of the Borghese Gallery (Titian, Caravaggio, Bernini)

Reading: Elisabeth Bolt ed. In A Documentary History of Art, “A Report to Pope Leo X on Ancient Rome,” 289-296 (photocopies); Giorgio Vasari, “Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti,” in Lives of the Artists, 335-337 (photocopies).

Week 5: (Walking tour) 3:00-6:30pm

5. Tue. June 21, 2011

Baroque Rome (17th C AD)

St. Luigi dei Francesi (Caravaggio: Paintings); P.za Navona (Bernini and Borromini: Urban plan, Architecture, Sculpture); St. Maria della Vittoria (Bernini: Sculpture, Literature); St. Carlino (Borromini: Architecture)

Reading: Walter Friedlander, Caravaggio’s Studies, 343-360 (photocopies); Filippo Baldinucci, Life of Cavaliere Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, 107-123 (photocopies); The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by herself, 61-66, 205-210 (photocopies).

Due: Reaction Paper 3

Week 6: (Walking tour) 3:00-6:30pm

6. Tue. June 28, 2011

Fascist and Contemporary Rome (20th -21st C)

The E.U.R. (Esposizione Universare di Roma 1942, Urban Plan and Architecture), Museo della Civiltà Romana, Museo Alto Medioevo

Reading: Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy, 171-239 (photocopies);

Diane Ghirardo, Architects, Exhibitions, and the Politics of Culture in Fascist Italy, 67-75 (photocopies).

Due (last day of the program): Final Paper

Required Readings:

Michael Grant, The World of Rome, Phoenix Press, London 1960.

Elisabeth Bolt, A Documentary History of Art, Princeton University Press, 1957, Paulinus of Nola, The decoration of his churches; Letter of St. Gregory the Great to Bishop Serenus of Marseille, 17-22, 47-48 (photocopies).

Elisabeth Bolt, A Documentary History of Art, Princeton University Press, 1957,

A Report to the Pope on Ancient Rome in E. Holt, A Documentary History of Art, Princeton University Press, 1957, 289-296 (photocopies).

Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, Penguin Books, Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti (Penguin Books, excerpt), 335-337 (photocopies).

Walter Friedlander, Caravaggio’s Studies, Schocken Books, New York 1972: 343-360 (photocopies).

Filippo Baldinucci, Life of Cavaliere Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, from Elisabeth Bolt, A Documentary History of Art: 107-123 (photocopies).

The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, Penguin Books, 61-66, 205-210 (photocopies).

Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy, Cambridge University Press,171-239 (photocopies).

Diane Ghirardo, Architects, Exhibitions, and the Politics of Culture in Fascist Italy: Journal of Architectural Education, 45: 2 (1992) 67-75 (photocopies).

Nicolai Ouroussoff, Modern Lines for the Eternal City, New York Times, 11 November 2009, page C1 ().

Gabriella De Ferrari, Renzo Piano Forte, Travel + Leisure, December 2003 ().

Note: For each class students will receive a handout with specific information regarding each work of art, artist, location, date, maps (when relevant), urban plans, building elevations, and details from art works when necessary.

Students are requested to take notes during lectures.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download