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| A Beautiful Fountain in Florence. A prefect place for a working lunch with Giorgio Vasari Photo credit: sammydavisdog on Flickr Creative Commons |
I’m frankly not entirely sure how I got here, but I’m more than thrilled to be. I’m even more thrilled to be heading off to Florence to study Italian Renaissance and Baroque Art!
As part of my Art 4C course in Florence, we are writing
blogs on our experiences with Italian art. As an Art History major I’ve already
had exposure to Italian art; but not in the way we’re going to be able to study
works and artists while in Florence. To me there is a huge difference between
looking at an image of a work and looking at the work itself. Especially when
considering frescoes and architecture, it’s extremely important to be able to
examine the works in their original location and context. Contextualizing art
in this way enables the viewer to get a fuller understanding of the work’s
function and how its form and rendering come into play according to that
function.
Our course does not begin at the traditional starting point
of the Italian Renaissance, but rather during the end of the Byzantine period.
I find this to be very refreshing as, to me, the trajectory of art as one style
informs and leads into the next is vitally important to a full understanding of
Art and each of its periods and styles. Being able to contextualize Renaissance
art based on its similarities and differences to Medieval art will enable me to
better place Renaissance art in the greater trajectory of art.
