Gail Geiger
Fall 2005
During the sixteenth century, the Italian Renaissance print—the engraving, the woodcut, the etching—became one of the most subversive art forms. Cheaper to produce than a bronze sculpture, an oil painting, or a building, it could be bought by someone of modest means. Portable in considerable quantities, it flouted the idea of rarity, of the exclusive or of the unique. Sometimes the artist created an image, sometimes he or she copied a famous work by another artist. While single artists became famous as printmakers, they more often established their reputation through collaboration with others in a team process.
The print challenged as many assumptions as did the invention of printing itself. Who constituted the audience? What happened to “regional schools” of art? What happened to “standards” if a print could travel from the newest ideas in Naples, Rome, Florence or Venice, to those who emulated those creations in a wide range of other media? Sometimes the print conveyed absolutely pornographic imagery, other times it visualized the most pious of Church Reform doctrine as far away as Goa in India, or Manila in the Philippines, or the Americas. Was the print an aesthetic commodity when used by the cartographer, by the anatomy student, by the tailor, or the book illustrator?
We shall examine a range of issues raised by this new medium. Evaluation will be based on class participation, on responses—both oral and written—to readings on our syllabus, and to a final term paper of substantial research and critical writing.Prerequisites: AH 202 and junior standing or above. Priority will be given to Art History majors who have also taken at least one course in Italian Renaissance or Baroque (300, 400, or 600 level.)
Enrollment by instructor consent only. Please contact Prof. Geiger in person at 226 Elvehjem, or by e-mail.
For trouble accessing this page, or for
additional information please contact: visualculture@education.wisc.edu.
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