Students who attend this course will acquire knowledge of the History of Flemish and Dutch Art in the early modern age, especially with regard to the aspects of the Social History of Art, History of Patronage and Collecting.
Students will be given the opportunity to learn about the sites, the artists, the standard works of the History of Flemish and Dutch Art in the seventeenth century and the ability to use the main tools for the interpretation of the data (sources and historiographical debate).They will also be able to apply the method acquired in the art-historical investigation to other authors, works and contexts than those dealt with in class. They will also be able to communicate their knowledge, acquiring specialised vocabulary. Finally, the students of the course will be able to acquire a study method based on the specificity of the historical-artistic discipline aimed at interpreting and commenting analytically works and contexts of the modern age.
Students will be given the opportunity to learn about the sites, the artists, the standard works of the History of Flemish and Dutch Art in the seventeenth century and the ability to use the main tools for the interpretation of the data (sources and historiographical debate).They will also be able to apply the method acquired in the art-historical investigation to other authors, works and contexts than those dealt with in class. They will also be able to communicate their knowledge, acquiring specialised vocabulary. Finally, the students of the course will be able to acquire a study method based on the specificity of the historical-artistic discipline aimed at interpreting and commenting analytically works and contexts of the modern age.
teacher profile teaching materials
Born in Brussels and died in Goa, India, living in Rome for at least a decade, Michael Sweerts is a very interesting figure in seventeenth-century European figurative culture. The course will examine his artistic production, the context within which he works. It will take place largely in churches, museums, public and private collections in the city of Rome, comparing his work with that of his contemporaries, active during the pontificate of Innocent X Pamphili.
(a) at least one of two texts of your choice: G. Kieft, I Paesi Bassi settentrionali: arte, mestiere e
committenza nel secolo d'oro, in La pittura nei Paesi Bassi, a cura di B.W.Meijer, Milano, Electa,
1997, tomo II, pp. 409-522 (disponibile su Teams) or Mariette Westermann, The Art of the
Dutch Republic. 1585-1718, New York, Harry Abrams, 1996 (available for purchase online for a
very modest amount).
(b) at least one of the following texts of your choice (or all of them):
Svetlana Alpers, Art of Description. Science and Painting in the Dutch Seventeenth Century; Simon Shama, The Embarrassment of Riches; Svetlana Alpers, Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market, 1995; Daniel Arasse, L' Ambition de Vermeer, 1993; Marco Mascolo, Rembrandt. Un artista nell'Europa del Seicento, Rome, Carocci, 2021; Les bas-fonds du baroque: la Rome du vice et de la misere, cataloge dirigée par F. Cappelletti et A. Lemoine, 2014.
(c) texts related to Michael Sweerts that will be made available in the file on Teams(the advice of course is always to read them all); including G. Briganti, Il mito della “finestra aperta,” in G. Briganti, L. Trezzani, L. Laureati, I Bamboccianti. Pittori della vita quotidiana a Roma nel Seicento, Bozzi, Rome 1983, pp. 1-36; G. Capitelli, Bambocciate in L'Arte. Protagonists, Themes, Masterpieces, Paths, edited by G.C.Sciolla, 6 vols., Turin 2003; Eadem, Una testimonianza documentaria per il primo nucleo della raccolta del principe Camillo Pamphilj, in I capolavori della collezione Doria Pamphilj. Da Tiziano a Velázquez, exhibition catalog (Milan, Fondazione Arte e Civiltà, September 28-December 8, 1996), Skira, Milan 1996, pp. 57-80.
(d) Teaching materials, consisting of the ppts of the slides projected in class and available on Teams.
Non-attending students should add to this syllabus (with the exception of items d and e which
are precluded from them) the in-depth study of at least two other texts from those listed in (b).
Programme
Michael Sweerts (1618-1656) and the Rome of the BambocciantiBorn in Brussels and died in Goa, India, living in Rome for at least a decade, Michael Sweerts is a very interesting figure in seventeenth-century European figurative culture. The course will examine his artistic production, the context within which he works. It will take place largely in churches, museums, public and private collections in the city of Rome, comparing his work with that of his contemporaries, active during the pontificate of Innocent X Pamphili.
Core Documentation
Preparation for the exam requires in-depth, critical and informed study of.(a) at least one of two texts of your choice: G. Kieft, I Paesi Bassi settentrionali: arte, mestiere e
committenza nel secolo d'oro, in La pittura nei Paesi Bassi, a cura di B.W.Meijer, Milano, Electa,
1997, tomo II, pp. 409-522 (disponibile su Teams) or Mariette Westermann, The Art of the
Dutch Republic. 1585-1718, New York, Harry Abrams, 1996 (available for purchase online for a
very modest amount).
(b) at least one of the following texts of your choice (or all of them):
Svetlana Alpers, Art of Description. Science and Painting in the Dutch Seventeenth Century; Simon Shama, The Embarrassment of Riches; Svetlana Alpers, Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market, 1995; Daniel Arasse, L' Ambition de Vermeer, 1993; Marco Mascolo, Rembrandt. Un artista nell'Europa del Seicento, Rome, Carocci, 2021; Les bas-fonds du baroque: la Rome du vice et de la misere, cataloge dirigée par F. Cappelletti et A. Lemoine, 2014.
(c) texts related to Michael Sweerts that will be made available in the file on Teams(the advice of course is always to read them all); including G. Briganti, Il mito della “finestra aperta,” in G. Briganti, L. Trezzani, L. Laureati, I Bamboccianti. Pittori della vita quotidiana a Roma nel Seicento, Bozzi, Rome 1983, pp. 1-36; G. Capitelli, Bambocciate in L'Arte. Protagonists, Themes, Masterpieces, Paths, edited by G.C.Sciolla, 6 vols., Turin 2003; Eadem, Una testimonianza documentaria per il primo nucleo della raccolta del principe Camillo Pamphilj, in I capolavori della collezione Doria Pamphilj. Da Tiziano a Velázquez, exhibition catalog (Milan, Fondazione Arte e Civiltà, September 28-December 8, 1996), Skira, Milan 1996, pp. 57-80.
(d) Teaching materials, consisting of the ppts of the slides projected in class and available on Teams.
Non-attending students should add to this syllabus (with the exception of items d and e which
are precluded from them) the in-depth study of at least two other texts from those listed in (b).
Reference Bibliography
Additional bibliographical recommendations will be offered during the lectures and the workshops.Type of delivery of the course
Lectures, workshops, on-site visits at the Museo Laboratorio delle Gallerie Nazionali Barberini e Corsini.Attendance
Course attendance is mandatory. Students who do not have the opportunity to attend the course will have to take the exam with a specific program (see here the section Texts adopted and reference).Type of evaluation
Oral exam at the end of the lessions, by a vote of thirty and eventual laude. The threshold for passing the exam is set at 18/30. Voting beliw 18 be equivalebt to insufficient evaluation of learning. The rating scale is 30/30. Evaluation elements are: 1) the depth and breadth of the knowledge acquired;2) the ownership of language and the mastery of the sector vocabulary; 3) the ability to critically link issues and problems addressed.