HAD-432 Renaissance Materials

3 Credits

This course addresses materials and techniques of Renaissance visual arts in Western Europe, especially Italy and Flanders, with an attention to global trade and material sourcing. Through engagement with treatises by Renaissance practitioners, recipes, and art historical writings of the period, along with recent conservation data, students will study pigments, media and surfaces used for painting, sculptural and building materials, drawing materials, as well as printmaking and various luxury items and their embellishments. Attention to the current condition of works forcefully introduces matters of sustainability and the effects of pollution, particularly since the industrial Revolution.