ARTH 533
Michelangelo: Biography, Mythology, and the History of Art Spring 2016
Division I
Cross-listed
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

One might argue that Michelangelo’s enduring fame, and his preeminence in the European art historical canon, is as much a product of his artistic persona as his artistic achievement. Indeed, the classic image of the artist as a brooding, tortured genius of unstoppable creative force finds its roots in the Italian Renaissance, and specifically in the fascinating biography – and mythology – of Michelangelo. With a life and career more fully documented than those of any western artist to precede him, Michelangelo provides the foundations for a triangulation of person-persona-artistic production that has a modern . But what are the limits of our knowledge, or the boundaries of interpretation? How might we approach the study of an artistic self when that self is, also, a work of art? In this course, students will become well-acquainted with the life and work of Michelangelo, giving critical attention to the connection between the man and his work. We will investigate, in particular, the practice of interpreting his work according to his philosophical outlook, political convictions, religious beliefs, sexual desire, and more. While this course will bring us deep into the life and work of a single artist, one of its goals is to generate ideas about the very act of biographically-based art historical interpretation. How can thinking carefully about Michelangelo reshape our own thinking about art historical practice?
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 18
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: an oral presentation, a research paper, short response papers, and critical commentary on work of peers
Prerequisites: ArtH 301 or permission of instructor (prerequisite for 400-level)
Enrollment Preferences: equally given to senior Art majors and graduate students in the history of art
Distributions: Division I
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ARTH 433 Division I ARTH 533 Division I
Attributes: ARTH post-1600 Courses

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