The World of the Italian Renaissance Artist

Even as a complex guild system, wealthy patrons, and the church directed the fates of many 15th-century artists, these artists shaped the visual language of Italy’s city-states. In this course, we will explore training, technique, patronage, and artistic rivalry in the early Renaissance. A major resource for our discussions will be the exhibit, The Art of Devotion: Panel Painting in Early Renaissance Italy, on view at the Middlebury College Museum of Art in the fall of 2009. First-hand study of works in this exhibit, coupled with readings from important primary documents such as Cennino Cennini’s Craftsman’s Handbook and Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, will bring us closer to understanding the place of the artist at a pivotal moment in the history of art.