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Architecture: Piranesi and Architectural History in Rome

Vak
2011-2012

Admission requirements

See M.A. Art History program guide and Exam regulations.

Description

Whereas in past studies of Piranesi’s vedute of Rome the focus was often on the imaginative, romantic aspects of his work, in this seminar we will take a closer look at Piranesi as an architectural historian. We will use the large holdings of Piranesi etchings at the Print Room of the Leiden University Library to investigate how Piranesi prepared his images of the ruins of ancient Rome, how these images can be related to the ruins of Roman architecture that were accessible to him; what his position was among the many practitioners of the developing disciplines of archaeology and art history, and whether the view of Piranesi as a proto-romantic dreamer, driven by Ruinensucht or the love of ruins, is still tenable.
An excursion to Rome is part of this seminar.

Course objectives

  • Students should be able to analyze and recognize Piranesi’s techniques as an engraver

  • They should be able to analyze his strategies of visual representation of Roman ruins

  • Situate Piranesi’s activities as an engraver and architectural historian within the artistic and historiographical context of his time

  • Have some knowledge of the existing literature on Piranesi and 18th-century architectural history

  • To present a paper on Piranesi’s work in relation to the site he depicts in Rome

Timetable

Wednesdays from 3 to 5.30 in the lecture room of the Prints & Drawings Department of the University Library
See also the timetable on the Art History website.

Mode of instruction

  • Lectures

  • Excursion to Rome

Assessment method

  • paper

  • oral presentation in Rome

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used for timetables and programmes, reading lists, exam dates and other communication.

Reading list

To be announced.

Registration

Students have to register for this course in uSis, the registration system of the university: http://www.usis.leidenuniv.nl. General information about registration in uSis you can find here in Dutch and in English.

Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Study in Leiden website for information on how to apply.

Contact Information

Prof. dr C.A. van Eck

Remarks

This course will be taught in the Prints & Drawings Collection of Leiden University, which holds an extensive ciollection of Piranesi’s work. Students will be able to form a first-hand knowledge of his work, because we will use his prints as the starting-point for this seminar. The course also includes an excursion to Rome, which will take place in the last week of October or first week of November.

The Leiden MA specialisation in architectural history and theory enables students to acquire in-depth knowledge of at least two major periods, artists or styles, to critically evaluate secundary literature about them, and to present their arguments in papers or presentations on the site. It also trains their skills of visual analysis of designs, plans, buildings and their representations. This year, major figures and periods are the subject of the courses on Einstein and Michelangelo; visual analytical skills are developed in the Piranesi course, which takes place in the Print Room of the University Library and in Rome.