The Art of Visual Communication: Prints and Printmaking in Sixteenth-Century Italy (P00274)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : ACE-P-P00274

A critical examination of the standard accounts of the development of printmaking Italy from about 1480 to 1600. This was a period when the volume of print production increased exponentially. The century saw considerable changes in the organisation of production, with the emergence of print publishers like Il Baviera, Antonio Salamanca and Lafreri in Rome and similar, but less well-known, figures in Venice. The business of prints in the period is characterized by a division of labour, in which designers, cutters, printers and distributors were often separate people. It has sometimes been argued that this meant an almost industrial organisation, but there were still many individual printmakers: artists who explored the media for specific technical or expressive reasons, and innovative individuals who used prints to convey new ideas. How should this situation be understood? It has often been said that after the high level of artistry seen in prints of the fifteenth century and early years of the sixteenth, a period of decline set in. It is also usually said that the status of prints and printmaking was rather low in contemporary estimation. Are these claims true? How were prints seen in the context of the other visual arts? There are also issues arising from the enormous variety of ways in which prints were utilized. They became the equivalent of what photographs became in the nineteenth century. In particular the sixteenth century saw the development of printmaking for scientific and technological purposes: were there important links between these media and the major advances in scientific knowledge that were taking place in Italy at the time?.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

History of Art, (School of Arts, Culture and Environment, Schedule A)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

? Additional Class Information : Semester 1, Th at times to be arranged

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

The course will in general give the students familiarity with an important, but understudied, aspect of Italian Renaissance art. The critical approach that will be taken up in relation to the existing literature on the subject will train them to treat what they read with scepticism. The historical and critical understanding they acquire will be accompanied by a first hand acquaintance with the objects themselves. The print collections of the National Galleries of Scotland at Edinburgh and the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow will be used as sources and the students will be encouraged to build up experience of examining the primary objects for themselves. The major media with which they will become acquainted will be woodcut, including the chiaroscuro woodcut, engraving and etching. The use of prints for the illustration of books will also be discussed and study of the rare books in the University Library, the National Library of Scotland and elsewhere will give the students knowledge and understanding of important aspects of early book production.

Assessment Information

Principal means of assessment is a 4,000 word essay. In addition each candidate's performance will be monitored through the presentation of seminar material.