With its artistic and architectural roots in the scintillating richness of Byzantium, and its pivotal geo-political and economic location at the epicentre of the eastern and western-Mediterranean, Venice has long stood apart from, but been a vital part of, the Renaissance and post-Renaissance artistic world.
As a rival to Florence and Rome, Venice can lay claim to having spawned a distinctive artistic and architectural school in its own right. One which owes much to the Florentine and Roman Renaissance – but which has embraced qualities of sensuality, and vivid, vibrant colour which sets it apart from the more dry, scholarly and sculptural approaches of the schools of Rome or Florence.
This summer school will explore the history and legacy of the school of Venice, in both art and architecture. We shall trace the development of Venetian architecture from the Byzantine splendour of San Marco, to the restrained neo-classical elegance of Palladio’s Venetian villas. We will follow the development of the Venetian school of painting – from the sumptuous atmospheric colour of the work of Bellini, Giorgione and Titian; to the Mannerist proto-Baroque of Tintoretto, Veronese and Tiepolo.
We shall also explore the long after-glow of Venetian painting, in the work of subsequent artists such as Rubens and Velazquez; and we shall consider the responses to the fading glory of Venice which were so vividly provided by such later artists as Canaletto and Turner.
Finally we will look to Venice today: as it hosts the bi-annual Biennale festival of contemporary art; and as the city grapples with the manifold problems of preservation and ever-growing tourist popularity.
This course is part of the Oxford University Summer School for Adults (OUSSA) programme.