Unit information: Study of Art History in 2011/12

Unit name	Study of Art History
Unit code	HART10203
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Mr. Lilley
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None Co-requiste None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History of Art (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will provide students with a general overview of the techniques and terminology employed by art historians when approaching visual and architectural material. In particular, the Unit may cover the following: visual and architectural analysis; pictorial genres; architectural terminology; iconographic knowledge of both the classical and the christian traditions; and a basic sense of the problems and issues surrounding artistic intentionality and the contextual interpretation of works of art. The unit will examine the process of visual analysis and its interpretation in relation to painting, sculpture and architecture as well as developing skills in the use of scholarly conventions, accessing research resources, essay writing, and information technology.

Aims:

This unit will provide students with visual skills and descriptive and analytic vocabularies central to the continued study of art history. Thus the central objective of the unit is to encourage students to take a critical, analytic and historically informed approach to works of art and architecture, rather than engaging on a merely appreciative level.

Intended Learning Outcomes

The unit will equip students with a range of analytic skills, including the formal analysis of pictures, sculptures and buildings. Secondly, the unit will expand students' knowledge, especially in relation to the Christian and Classical iconographic traditions. Thirdly, the unit will expand students' vocabularies: they should acquire and deploy correctly the terminology appropriate to the formal, architectural and iconographic analysis of art objects and buildings. And finally, the unit will make students aware of some of the problems and issues surrounding artistic intentionality and the contextual interpretation of works of art.

Teaching Information

Twice weekly lectures/workshops.

Assessment Information

• Completion of computer-assisted exercises

• 1 x 1000-word exercise / essay (60%)

• 1 x group-project presentation (30%).

• 1 x short computing-skills course provided by Computing Services (10%).

Reading and References

• S. Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art, London, 1996 (most recent edition).

• M. Baxandall, Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, London, 1985.

• J. Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, London, 1974.

• E. Panofsky, Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance, New York, 1972.

• M. Pointon, History of Art, London, 1986.

• J. Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture, London, 1980 (2nd edition)