AH 324 – ART OF THE ROMANTIC IMAGINATION, 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY ROME

Neoclassicism is the artistic expression of the Enlightenment. It found in Rome a natural breeding ground, since the city was still imbued with memories of its Classical past.

During this course we will see how Neoclassical art owed to its own time as much as to Antiquity, and how it reflected an enthusiasm for the ideals of the French Revolution, the majesty of the Napoleonic Imperial Age and the restoration of papal temporal rule.

The second part of the course is devoted to Romanticism, a cultural movement born in Northern Europe with the development of nations-states. It too found fertile ground in Italy, which would itself be finally unified during the Risorgimento. Art therefore became a vehicle for political propagandizing, with artists referring back to the
Middle Ages as the last period of Italy’s independence from foreign rule. Italy contributed once more to the development of European art through its “Macchiaioli” movement in painting, which anticipated Impressionism, and through the vast urbanistic programs to renovate and modernize Rome, now a capital again, in the closing years of the century.

Pre-requisites: A 100-level Art History course.

This course satisfies the information literacy and oral presentation requirements.

Students are responsible for all entry fees. An additional fee may be collected in the event of a required excursion.

Credit hours: 
3