The Paradoxical Venetian Renaissance

Details

When:

Where: The Hampton Inn

Cost: $165.00 for 6 session(s)

Type: In Person

Category:

• Art History
• Humanities Courses

Instructor: Kevin Justus . wears dual career hats, being a musician and an art historian. Kevin has his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kevin Justus

The 16th-century Venetians proudly saw themselves as different and apart, and in many ways culturally superior to their sister city-states on the Italian mainland. How could they not; their remarkable city floated, cloud-like and ethereal, on the lagoons of the Adriatic? This remarkable occurrence of building a city on water with canals, instead of streets, created a city filled with color and light. Florence, Milan or Rome just could not compete.

The venerable Venetian republic encouraged a Christian ethos of charity and responsibility paired with a love of ceremony and sumptuous display. This often ran counter to the wishes and dictates of the Holy Father in Rome, frequently bringing the Venetians in direct conflict with their Italian brothers and sisters. This fierce independence, theologically, politically and culturally, blended with the remarkable history and incredible wealth of Venice to foster the sumptuous and sensual artistic atmosphere of the Most Serene Republic. Through artists, such as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tinteretto and Veronese, Venice, this city married to Christ and the Sea, created one of the most spiritually powerful but sensually charged visual traditions, but also one of the most brilliant and long lasting artistic movements in the Western Canon.

Week 1: Introduction
Background and what is it about Venice? The European World in 1400.

Week 2: 15th-century Developments
Venice, its history and Giovanni Bellini – the City at the Cross-Roads of the World.

Week 3: Into the 16th-century
Titian – a most precocious talent. The Frari and the Triumph of Color and Light

Week 4: Titian – the Most Popular Painter in Europe
Painter to Kings, Popes and an occasional Duke. Venetian Power through Art.

Week 5: Tinteretto and Veronese
The younger generation and the continuation of a tradition. How does one compete with Titian?

Week 6: The Party is over, or is it just beginning?
Late Titian and the younger generation comes into its own. The decoration of the Venetian Scuola. Triumph and Controversy – the rush to the Baroque.