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The Arts of Italy and the 'Global Renaissance' - HOA00061H

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24

Module summary

This module introduces students to the richness and complexities of Italian art, c.1350–1550. It considers the diverse artistic traditions and image-making practices throughout Italy, using specific cities as case studies, and placing emphasis on their wider networks, including their transcultural and ‘global’ connections.

Related modules

Students who have taken the I-level version of The Arts of Italy and the ‘Global Renaissance’ are prohibited from taking the H-version of the same module.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2023-24

Module aims

This module introduces students to the richness and complexities of Italian art, c.1350–1550. It considers the diverse artistic traditions and image-making practices throughout Italy, focussing on specific cities and placing emphasis on their wider networks, including their transcultural and ‘global’ connections. Arranged thematically, the city-based studies provide the springboard for examining the multi-faceted worlds of art-making and the circulation of ideas, materials, techniques and artworks within and beyond the Italian peninsula.

The module considers the types of art that were created, and how art and artefacts coming from the past and/or from outside Italy were interpreted, emulated, or even collected. Through study of selected cities and courts throughout the peninsula vis-à-vis their specific social-political cultures and the circulation of ideas, people, materials, techniques, and artworks, the module addresses issues such the role of artists (Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantegna) in relation to civic and court art, the understanding of antiquity, alterity, gender, materiality and collecting. The module will provide students with a knowledge of the arts of selected Renaissance cities in Italy; an understanding of the dynamics of art-making as it relates to the circulation of people, ideas, materials, techniques, and artworks within the Italian peninsula and beyond; a solid understanding of Italian Renaissance art and its transcultural connections; and the ability to analyse artworks within past and current debates in the field.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

  • A knowledge of the arts of selected Renaissance cities in Italy (c.1350–1550).

  • An understanding of the dynamics of art-making as it relates to the circulation of ideas, materials, techniques and artworks within and beyond the Italian peninsula.

  • A solid understanding of Italian Renaissance art and its transcultural connections.

  • The ability to analyse artworks within past and current debates in the field.

  • The ability to identify and critically evaluate new source material through independent research

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

  • Brotton, Jerry. The Renaissance Bazaar: From the Silk Road to Michelangelo. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
  • Christian, Kathleen, and Leah R. Clark, eds. European Art and the Wider World. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017.
  • Cole, Alison. Italian Renaissance courts: Art, Pleasure and Power. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2016.
  • Contadini, Anna, and Claire Norton, eds. The Renaissance and the Ottoman World. London: Routledge, 2016.
  • Curran, Brian. The Egyptian Renaissance: The Afterlife of Ancient Egypt in Early Modern Italy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
  • Evans, R. J. W., and Alexander Marr, eds. Curiosity and Wonder from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016.
  • Howard, Deborah. Venice and the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture, 1100–1500. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
  • Markey, Lia. Imagining the Americas in Medici Florence. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2016.
  • Roodenburg, Herman, ed. Cultural Exchange in Early Modern Europe: Forging European Identities, 1400–1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  • Savoy, Daniel. The Globalization of Renaissance Art: A Critical Review. Leiden: Brill, 2017.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.