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Courses in Art History
Art
2520
Northern Renaissance Art
*Offered in alternate years.
4
SEMESTER HOURS
Description:
The painting and graphic arts of Northern Europe from
the 14th through the 16th centuries will be covered, with
particular interest in the nature of symbolic meaning in the
visual arts. We'll also consider the impact on the arts of
the religious upheaval of the Protestant Reformation and of
the social changes affecting attitudes toward the relationship
between men and women.
Instructor:
Elise
Smith
Syllabus
My hope is that in taking this course you'll become as
intrigued as I am by the stylistic and iconographic intricacies
and subtleties of Northern Renaissance art. We'll be focusing
on Netherlandish painting of the 15th and 16th centuries,
although certain major German artists will be brought in for
comparative purposes. Since the material of the course is
relatively limited, we'll be able to study together in more
depth than is usual the works of some major artists and certain
popular themes, and to explore some longstanding puzzles of
attribution and meaning--to give just one example, who painted
which parts of the Van Eycks' Ghent Altarpiece and how should
it be interpreted?
TEXT.
Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art. New York:
Harry N. Abrams, 1985.
CLASS
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION. Our text is an excellent one,
but it can in no way be considered a substitute for the course.
We'll be looking at some works of art that are not illustrated
in the text, and we'll certainly be discussing points that
aren't covered there. Regular class attendance is crucial.
I believe very strongly that your participation is essential
to the learning process, and I encourage all of you to ask
questions, comment, disagree, elaborate, and otherwise enter
the arena with me.
GRADES.
Each of you will be evaluated on the basis of:
1) three
exams, with in-class and take-home components (25% each)
2) oral presentation (15%)
3) attendance and participation (10%)
EXAMS.
The in-class exams will consist of the identification, analysis,
and comparison of selected works of art illustrated in your
text or on display in the slide cabinet outside my office.
If you are unable to take an exam at its regularly scheduled
time you must arrange with me before that time to be examined
on another occasion. Otherwise you may be given a "O".
Late assignments
will be marked down 1/2 letter grade for each day late unless
prior arrangements are made (a good, legitimate, justifiable
reason is needed for me to consider granting a student extra
time for these papers, so plan ahead and budget your time
wisely).
HONOR
CODE: The honor pledge signed by all students upon entering
the College is as follows:
As a Millsaps College student, I hereby affirm that I understand
the Honor Code and am aware of its implications and of my
responsibility to the Code. In the interests of expanding
the atmosphere of respect and trust in the College, I promise
to uphold the Honor Code and I will not tolerate dishonest
behavior in myself or in others.
Please
pledge all your written work for this class.
PLAGIARISM
- A Reminder
Always
be careful about plagiarism, even in take-home exams. Plagiarism,
as you know from LS1000, is the use of another person's ideas
or words without proper acknowledgement. There are times when
your sources might include not only various published books
and articles, but also friends or colleagues or professors.
Get in the habit of thinking about where your ideas and words
originate, since that is one of the responsibilities of being
a member of the academic community. Some students think they're
solving the problem by using quote after quote, but that can
turn into a pastiche of other people's work rather than a
genuine essay.
To be
more specific about what plagiarism is, in case you're uncertain:
two of the most common forms of plagiarism are defined by
Diana Hacker in The Bedford Handbook for Writers (Boston:
St. Martin's, 1994) as "(1) borrowing someone's ideas,
information, or language without documenting the source and
(2) documenting the source but paraphrasing the source's language
too closely, without using quotation marks to indicate that
language has been borrowed" (477).
When should
you document a source? In addition to citing the source of
a direct quote, you should give a citation when you refer
to an idea, opinion, hypothesis, or conclusion from one of
your sources, or when you summarize or paraphrase a section
of your source, or when you rely on one of your sources for
a fact that would not be considered common knowledge for the
audience of your paper (Hacker 477-78). The point of all this
is to help the reader (and yourself as writer) to distinguish
between your own ideas and those with whom you are entering
into scholarly conversation.
What is
meant by paraphrasing a source too closely? This is probably
the kind of plagiarism that I most often see in student papers.
It has often been considered "unintentional", but
is nonetheless clearly recognizable as plagiarism. With the
Honor Code now in place at Millsaps, and with a concerted
effort being made by faculty and students alike to clarify
the boundaries of academic dishonesty, you will no longer
be able to plead lack of understanding. If you're uncertain
about plagiarism, I encourage you to read Hacker, pp. 467-79,
on the process of taking notes in order to properly paraphrase
your sources and on constructing and writing your essay in
order to maintain a strong, clear voice.
Be aware
of the use and acknowledgement of your sources at all levels,
from defining your thesis to organizing your ideas to writing
individual sentences. See Hacker, pp. 478-79, for an exercise
to help you think about plagiarism at the sentence level.
COURSE
CALENDAR
Week 1
- Jan. 12, 14 Manuscripts
Read Snyder 15-22, 41-73
2 - Jan. 19, 21 Melchior Broederlam; Claus Sluter; Robert
Campin
Read Snyder 119-23
3 - Jan. 26, 28 Campin; Jan van Eyck
4 - Feb. 2, 4 Jan van Eyck
Read Snyder 88-118
5 - Feb. 9, 11 Jan van Eyck; Exam on Feb. 11
6 - Feb. 16, 18 Rogier van der Weyden
Read Snyder 124-139
7 - Feb. 23, 25 Hugo van der Goes
Read Snyder 169-181
8 - Mar. 2, 4 Late 15th century
Read Snyder 140-165, 182-193 (top)
9 - Mar. 9, 11 Spring Break
10 - Mar. 16, 18 Jan Gossaert and Lucas van Leyden
Read Snyder 419-426, 455-66
Exam on Mar. 18
11 - Mar. 23, 25 Albrecht Dürer
Read Snyder 266-92, 316-347
12 - Mar. 30, Ap. 1 Dürer; Hans Holbein the Younger
Read Snyder 385-398
13 - Ap. 6, 8 Hans Baldung Grien; Matthias Grünewald
Read Snyder 348-356, 365-69
14 - Ap. 13, 15 Oral Presentations on Bosch
Read Snyder 195-217
15 - Ap. 20, 22 Oral Presentations on Bruegel
Read Snyder 484-510
* * *
This syllabus is subject to change at the disgression of the
instructor.
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