Art and Sexuality in Renaissance Italy (P02351)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : ACE-P-P02351

This course will examine painted and sculpted nudes and other erotic imagery in the context of new research on gender and sexual culture in renaissance Italy. We will consider why paintings with erotic subject matter became such an important focus for renaissance artists such as Botticelli and Titian, and investigate how this relates to wider social changes during this period. Classes will consider the visual arts in the context of marriage ritual, contemporary notions of female sexuality, the ubiquity of male homosexual practice, the birth of courtesan culture and pornography as well as the effects of the revival of classical culture and the relationship between the policing of sexuality and church reform. We will make extensive use of the collection of sixteenth century Venetian painting in the National Gallery of Scotland.

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 2 (Blocks 3-4)

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

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, students will have developed :

. A detailed knowledge of Italian renaissance art and history, particularly that of Venice, Florence and Rome c. 1480-1550.

. Experience of interdisciplinary study and research - including art and literary history, social history and the history of the body.

. A critical engagement with the often contradictory and unstable meanings attached to representations of the body, and a greater understanding of how these representations operated within their broader culture.

. Experience of various methodological approaches towards the study of images, including feminism, gender/sexuality, identity, and the social history of art.

. Skills in visual and textual analysis and historical thinking through the use of renaissance texts and images, which will form a crucial element of seminar teaching.