Global Arc

The concept of nature from the Renaissance through the 18th century as seen in European gardens and landscape architecture. Major consideration will be given to the Italian villa-garden complex, the French classical garden, and the English romantic garden and park as evidence of large-scale planning. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

European architecture from 1420 to the mid-18th century with particular emphasis on its historical and social background. The various architectural movements--Renaissance, baroque, and rococo--are studied in terms of important architects and buildings especially of Italy, France, and England. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This course introduces the student to the art of the Byzantine Empire from ca. 800 to ca. 1200. Byzantine art has often been opposed to the traditions of western naturalism, and as such has been an undervalued or little-known adjunct to the story of medieval art. In order to develop a more sophisticated understanding of our visual evidence, this course will stress the function of this art within the broader setting of this society. Art theory, the notions of empire and holiness, the burdens of the past and the realities of contemporary praxis will be brought to bear upon our various analyses of material from all media.

Painting, sculpture, and architecture in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, and Russia, ca. 1450-1800. Special emphasis is placed on the changing roles of court, city, cloister, and aristocracy and the relation of local styles to international trends, including art elsewhere in Europe. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Offered in alternate years. One three-hour seminar.

Photography and violence have been entwined for as long as there have been photos. These images pose questions about the past and present: What are the ethics of global representations of war, so-called natural disasters, and other atrocities? How have violent pictures particularly shaped US culture? What does it mean to bear witness through photographs? Grounded in visual analysis of complex and disturbing images such as photographs of enslaved people and photographs of victims of the Holocaust, this class will engage in rigorous conversations about the meaning, circulation, and power of photos.

The rediscovery of classical antiquity has been the central narrative of Renaissance art history. This class takes the opposite tack to consider how architects reacted to challenges when antiquity offered no precedents. How have architectural responses to particular conditions shaped the modern world? Beginning in the twelfth century with a special focus on France and Italy, we will explore key problems in the history of architecture, including how new technologies and theoretical shifts affected practice. We will examine a set of institutional types to consider how the absence of historical models prompted experiments in building form.

Around 3000 BCE, the first state in history was formed in the northeastern part of Africa, from the Delta to the first cataract of the Nile. With it came the invention of writing, new ideologies, and monumental forms of art and architecture. In this course we will consider ancient Egyptian material, visual, and textual culture from this early phase (c. 3500-2150 BCE). With a focus on recent fieldwork done across the country, we will consider how the state was formed, the challenges it faced, the way members of the community variously functioned within it, and how it adapted and eventually disintegrated after a long period of stability.

Was Clio Hall built by the Ancient Greeks? McCormick by the Venetians of the Renaissance? Princeton Chapel by English masons of the Middle Ages? Some of the most recognizable architectural landmarks of Princeton's campus were built in reference to past architectural styles. This class will focus on the concept of "neo-styles" in the history of Western architecture, decoration and furniture, from the Renaissance to Postmodernism, interrogating the complex relationships between present needs and past dreams. Each week, students will confront the theoretical context of neo-styles with a series of American architectural case studies.

An often interdisciplinary study of themes and problems in 19th-century art with special attention to recent writing in the field. Possible topics include: the persistence of realism, Impressionism and its aftermath, shifting representations of masculinity and femininity, and the formation of the first European avant-gardes. The course may also center on a particular artistic medium or geographical location. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 3 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

An often interdisciplinary study of themes and problems in 20th-century art with special attention to recent writing in the field. Possible topics include: models of abstraction, critiques of the traditional mediums of art, artistic responses to technological transformation and/or political revolution, and artistic explorations of the unconscious. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 3 distribution requirement. Two 90-minute classes.