Course overview
This online course examines Northern Renaissance art, with a focus on the visual traditions of Flanders and the Netherlands (`Low Countries), Germany, Switzerland, and France during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The invention of the printing press, impact of the Protestant Reformation, and encounters with the Italian Renaissance art and artists, patrons, and humanists provides an artistic, social, political, and economic framework for interpreting and contextualising the vivid material culture of the Northern Renaissance in reference to innovations in production methods, patronage and collecting activities, and development of novel sacred and secular themes and genres.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge of diverse artistic traditions and material culture in northern Europe during the Renaissance.
- Develop critical and creative thinking and writing skills based on evaluation and synthesis of academic primary and secondary sources, including formal visual analysis of images and objects.
- Communicate effectively both independently and cooperatively in small group discussions.
- Use appropriate digital technologies and disciplinary specific research tools.
- Articulate insightful research questions, arguments and conclusions in writing and speaking about Northern Renaissance art, society, and culture.