ARTH 280 Michelangelo

This course is designed as an introduction to the life and work of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). We will investigate his painting sculpture and architecture while considering its context within the major urban cultural centers in which he worked: Florence and Rome. The course will proceed chronologically but will vary from week to week as to relevant themes and methodological approaches to the career of arguably the most influential of all Renaissance artists. Among those topics to be explored: development and dissolution of a classical vocabulary; relationships between style and technique; art biography and self promotion; the relationship between Christianity and sexuality for Michelangelo and the Cinquecento; patronage and context in Florence and Rome; the development of classical form; meaning in the restored Sistine Chapel.