Eloquent Forms: Topics in Italian Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture
ARHA 325
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
RL&L 325 |
Early modern Italy was a site of vibrant and far-reaching innovation in the plastic arts. Driven by intense artistic competition, sustained by lavish patronage, and produced for religious, commemorative, and decorative purposes in both public and private settings, sculpture reached an unprecedented peak of creative ambition, material experimentation, and theoretical reflection during this period. From monumental urban commissions such as fountains to small-scale precious objects prized by elite collectors, sculptural works profoundly shaped the visual and sensory worlds of early modern Italy. This seminar explores the making and meaning of sculpture in the Renaissance and Baroque periods through close engagement with the works and careers of key artists, including Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Andrea del Verrocchio, Niccolò dell'Arca, Francesco Laurana, Properzia de'Rossi, Michelangelo, Benvenuto Cellini, Giambologna, Leone Leoni, Gianlorenzo Bernini, and Alessandro Algardi, among others. Readings and discussions are organized around thematic issues such as the making and viewing of early modern sculpture; the rhetoric of sculptural materials; verisimilitude and animation; sculpture and the senses; fragmentation and the non finito; touch, desire, and the nude; representations of force and violence; antiquarianism and collecting; tombs and sculptural commemoration; and monsters and monstrosity in garden sculpture. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ART |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Art History Minor)(Art History)(Art Studio)(Italian Studies) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
All required and optional readings will be made available through Moodle.
Students will read a variety of primary sources, book chapters, and journal articles by scholars such as Leonard Barkan, Katherine Bentz, Amy Bloch, Andrew Butterfield, Michael Cole, Kathleen Christian, Maarten Delbeke, C.D. Dickerson, Frank Ferenbach, David Freedberg, Megan Holmes, Geraldine Johnson, Joy Kenseth, Jeanette Kohl, Irving Lavin, Claudia Lazzaro, Estelle Lingo, Alison Luchs, Sarah McHam, Carolina Mangone, Jennifer Montagu, Luke Morgan, John Paoletti, Adrian Randolph, Luke Syson, Joris van Gastel, William Wallace, Genevieve Warwick, Daniel Zolli, and others.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Discussion and in-class presentations of the readings; oral presentation of the research project; peer-reviews; 18-page research paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
1. There will be a mandatory field trip to NYC museums on a Saturday.
2. This course can be used as the one course in English that counts toward the major in ITST. (For students placing into ITAL221 or higher, three of the nine required courses for the ITST major may be taken in English). Students should consult with their ITST major advisor. |
| Instructor(s): Aksamija,Nadja Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 16 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 16 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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