Programme

This course is designed for master’s degree students who have already completed core examinations in art history during their undergraduate studies. It aims to deepen and refine their skills in the stylistic analysis of artworks. Through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, and field activities—including visits to churches and museums—the course offers a structured methodology for interpreting and decoding European painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the present day. Special attention is also given to artistic techniques, the history of art criticism, and the history of restoration.

Core Documentation

Federico Zeri, Bernini contro Bernini, in “L’Europeo”, 13 ottobre 1980, poi ripubblicato nella raccolta di saggi intitolata Mai di traverso Milano 1982, pp. 94-97.
Andrea Bacchi, Il conoscitore laconico: Federico Zeri e i due Bernini, in Il mestiere del conoscitore - Federico Zeri, Bologna 2021, pp. 368-393.
Bernard Berenson, Amico di Sandro, con un saggio di Patrizia Zambrano, Milano 2006.
Laura Cavazzini, Un polittico di Giotto ricomposto, in Il mestiere del conoscitore. Roberto Longhi, a cura di Anna Maria Ambrosini Massari, Andrea Bacchi, Daniele Benati, Aldo Galli, Bologna 2017, pp. 59-77.
Gianni Papi, Jusepe de Ribera a Roma e il Maestro, in “Paragone”, 53, 2002, pp. 21-43
Vittoria Romani, Tibaldi “d’intorno” a Perino, Padova 1990.

Type of evaluation

The examination consists of an oral test with recognition of three works of art and three questions on the course bibliography