Eva Renzulli, VIU

The course examines Venetian art and architecture together with the social, cultural, political, and technological forces that shape them, analyzing how native Venetian tradition accepted and transformed new ideas.
Lectures, and visits on site, articulate an itinerary through Venice from the 12th to the 16th century, concentrating mostly on 15th and 16th centuries. Artistic personalities and single works of art will be considered highlighting important debates and innovations that characterize the peculiarity of the town. Public, private and sacred architecture will be considered raising various issues such as: social and symbolic places; narrative and public painting; piety and patronage; use of spolia; renovation, innovation and the interpretation of the past; printmaking and architectural publication; audiences and ritual uses of architecture.

The principal topics will be: the Basilica of San Marco and its decoration in relation to the Myth of Venice; the Palazzo Ducale and its representations of Justice; Mendicant orders: Santa Maria Gloriosa, Santi Giovanni e Paolo and Santa Maria dei Servi; Ducal Tombs; the Scuole Grandi and their narrative cycles; Gothic palaces; the Lombardi at the School of San Marco and Santa Maria dei Miracoli; Mauro Codussi at San Michele in Isola and San Zaccaria; the Rialto Bridge; Rome and Venice: Iacopo Sansovino, San Marco's Square and its buildings; the Palladian churches from San Francesco della Vigna to the Redentore.

The course lasts 12 weeks (3 hrs lecture/discussion per week). Classes will include lectures and visits.

Aim of the course
The goal is to provide an introduction to Venetian art and architecture and their complex relations with the specific lagoon context and its institutions. The course also aims to encourage the student’s awareness of the meanings of built space, and to provide the student with an intellectual vocabulary for the critical discussion of art and architecture.

Evaluation
There will be presentations on site (30%) and a final examination (30%). Attendance at lectures and trips is obligatory (20%). Written assignments consist of a final research paper related to themes adressed in class (2,500 words; 20%).

Introductory reading list
D. Chambers and B. Pullan eds., Venice. A Documentary History 1450-1630, Oxford, 1992
E. Concina, A History of Venetian Architecture, Cambridge 1998, (original Italian edition: Milan 1997)
P. Fortini Brown, Venetian Narrative Painting in the Age of Carpaccio, New Haven-London, 1988
P. Fortini Brown, Venice and Antiquity. The Venetian Sense of the Past, New Haven-London, 1996
D. Howard, The Architectural History of Venice, London, 1989
P. Humfrey, Painting in Renaissance Venice, New Haven and London, 1995.
N. Huse and W. Wolters, The Art of Renaissance Venice: Architecture, Sculpture and Painting, 1460-1590, Chicago, 1990 (original German edition: Munich, 1986)
J. McAndrew, Venetian Architecture of the Early Renaissance, Cambridge, MA, 1980.
D. Rosand, Myths of Venice: the Figuration of a State, London, 2001

Syllabus
1.1 - Introduction to Venice. Origins, Myth and Site in the words of Marin Sanudo and in the eyes of Jacopo de’ Barbari, Vettor Carpaccio and others.
1.2 - The Basilica of San Marco

2.1 - The Palazzo Ducale and its representations of Justice; San Marco's Square
2.2 - VISIT Ducal Palace and San Marco

3.1 - Mendicant orders: Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Ducal Tombs
3.2 -The Ca' d'Oro and other palaces

4.1 - Scuole Grandi and their narrative cycles
4.2 - VISIT San Giovanni e Paolo and Ca' d'Oro

5.1 - The Lombardi at the School of San Marco and Santa Maria dei Miracoli
5.2 - VISIT to San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, School of St. Mark, Santa Maria dei Miracoli

6.1- Mauro Codussi at palazzo Vendramin Calergi and the School of Saint John the Evangelist
6.2 - VISIT to the School of Saint Roch, Frari, School of Saint John the Evangelist

7.1 - Mauro Codussi's churches
7.2 - VISIT to S. Michele in Isola

8.1 - The ghetto and the "fondaci" for foreigners: Germans, Turks
8.2 - Rialto: bridge and market

9.1 - Florence, Milan, Rome and Venice.
9.2 - VISIT to Rialto, palazzo dei Camerlenghi, fondaco dei Tedeschi, and Ghetto

10.1 - Padova and Verona: Mantegna and Falconetto
10.2 - Jacopo Sansovino, Michele Sammicheli and Sebastiano Serlio in Venice

11.1 - The "all'antica" palace and the Venetian tradition
11.2 - The Libreria Marciana, the Loggetta and the Zecca (the Mint)

12.1 - Palladio on the "Terraferma"
12.2 - Palladio in Venice

Biography
Laurea in Architecture and Dottorato in History of Architecture (IUAV). Teaching Assistant for the Degree Course in Construction at IUAV. Was Teaching Fellow at Harvard and Teaching Assistant at the University of Ferrara. Contributed to the exhibition Palladio nel Nord Europa. Libri, viaggiatori e architetti organised by the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura 'Andrea Palladio' of Vicenza (CISA). Published Modelli e reinterpretazioni: Borromini e l'altare cosmatesco di S. Maria Maddalena a S. Giovanni in Oleo, in Atti del Convegno “Borromini e l'universo barocco”, (Roma, 13-15 Gennaio 2000), Milano: Electa 2000, pp. 162-65 and Borromini restauratore: S. Giovanni in Oleo e S. Salvatore a Ponte Rotto, in 'Annali', X, 1998, pp.203-220.