Italian language school in Montepulciano, Tuscany Italian Cultural Courses – Art Walks – Renaissance
Montepulciano, "the pearl of the 16th century", and Pienza, model city of the Italian Renaissance, are counted among the Tuscan centres in which the Italian Renaissance reached its highest expression. Art lovers can deepen their knowledge of the Italian Renaissance through theoretical lessons in specific terminology, viewing slides of artworks and architectural details, and guided walks among Renaissance churches and buildings. Thanks to the local artistic heritage and the passion of our instructor, our courses on the history of the Renaissance have become a great classic of Il Sasso. The courses run either one or two weeks. They consist of 2 hours of lessons every afternoon, for a total of 10 hours per week.
Day 1: Outline of the course and verification of students’ knowledge of the history and art history of the period.
Day 2: The first protagonists of the Renaissance and their works in Architecture (Leon Battista, Alberti, Brunelleschi), Painting (Massaccio, Beato Angelico) and Sculpture (Donatello).
Day 3: Comparison of two courts: the Urbino of Montefeltro depicted by Piero della Francesca, and the Mantova of the Gonzagas and their official artist Andrea Mantegna.
Day 4: Florence during the Renaissance: the beginning of the Modern Style and Leonardo – architect, sculptor, scientist, painter, inventor of the technique of “sfumato”, and herald of the conquest of modern technique.
Day 5: The personalities of Michelangelo and Raffaello; from the tormented and dramatic sculptures of the first to the high renaissance interpretation of the cult of beauty of the second.
Day 6: Development of the Renaissance in Venice in the1500’s – Giorgione’s sense of color, the later works of Giovanni Bellini and the beginnings of Tiziano.
Day 7: Florence and the crisis of 1530; painters in Tuscany during the first decades of the century – Pontormo and Beccafumi; the era of Pope Clement VII in Rome.
Day 8: The Style Crisis and the diffusion of a new, artistic language; the architect and painter Giulio Romano – the Palazzo del Tè in Mantova.
Day 9: Venice and the Veneto region at the end of the 1500’s: the last works of Tiziano; Tintoretto’s persistent search for light; the classical architecture and majestic villas of Palladio.
Day 10: End of the 1500’s, beginning of the 1600’s; the maximum expression of light and naturalism in painting; the artistic revolution of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio.
Storia dell'arte
Storia dell'arte
Storia dell'arte
Bibliographic materials:
L’Arte del costruire. Libro dello studente. Italiano per stranieri.
Parte 1 Architettura e urbanistica; Parte 3 Schede di lavoro.
Bonacci Editore, Roma, 1995.
P.de Vecchi, E. Cerchiari, Arte nel tempo, vol. 2, I e II tomo. Bompiani editore, 1999.
Art Dossier, Giunti Editore.
Audiovisual materials:
Il Rinascimento. Tra arte, architettura e potere. DVD Video
Leonardo da Vinci. Il genio del Rinascimento. DVD Video
Botticelli. Il pittore della grazia. DVD Video
Art Walks
This course is devoted for those who would rather skip the theory and talk about art while walking with their instructor among Renaissance churches and buildings in Montepulciano and Pienza. It’s the right way for those you prefer to learn in a more relaxed way talking their lessons outside of the classrooms.
