Corso di laurea in Beni Culturali

INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF BOOK ILLUMINATION

The course, which is intended for students who plan to give priority to the medieval artistic civilisation within their curriculum, provides the knowledge and ability to comprehend the main developments of the history of book illumination, together with a basic ability to apply these to simple case studies.

By the end of the course, the student will have gained a working knowledge of:

-       problems and methods of the history of book illumination;

-       the distinctive features of medieval book decoration;

-       centers of production, works of art, artists and patrons.

The lectures, which total 36 hours (6 CFU), will be held in classrooms and accompanied by image projections. Visits to museums and monuments will be included as part of the course.

The student’s knowledge and skills will be assessed through an oral examination in which questions may be accompanied by pictures. The student will be granted a pass (with final marks out of thirty) if s/he demonstrates the ability to present the topics using the correct terminology; proves his/her familiarity with works of art, styles and iconographies without being overly dependent on the previous literature; is able to recognize relationships and connections of interdependence among the topics discussed during the course; is able to situate the works of art in their respective period, purview and centre.

Not expected.

The main phases of the history of book illumination, from the end of Ancient art to the early Modern Age, including:

-       periodization and peculiarities of manuscripts;

-       purview and centers of artistic production;

-       Late Antiquity;

-       the Mediterranean area, the Continent, and the Insular pre-Carolingian production;

-       the Carolingian and Ottonian period;

-       the middle Byzantine period;

-       the Romanesque period;

-       the transitional style towards the Gothic;

-       the development of the Gothic style;

the international Gothic style and its dissolution.

Introductory references:

M. G. Ciardi Dupré Dal Poggetto, sub voce Miniatura, in Enciclopedia dell’Arte Medievale, VIII, Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani, Roma 1997, pp. 413-452;

C. Segre Montel, Miniatura, in Arti e tecniche del Medioevo, a cura di F. Crivello, Einaudi, Torino 2006, pp. 105-119. 

Reference texts:

C. Nordenfalk, Storia della miniatura [1957-1958], Einaudi, Torino 2012;

F. Avril, L’enluminure à l’époque gotique. 1200-1420 [1979], Bibliothèque de l’Image, Paris 1995;

O. Pächt, La miniatura medievale [1984], Boringhieri, Torino 1987, pp. 9-95.

None.