Art History

FRANCESCA MANZARI

The course aims to provide students with a knowledge of gothic illumination, with special focus on style and iconography, on issues of patronage, on the context and techniques of production. Special attention will be given to the relationship between illumination and monumental painting, but also to other 14th century techniques of artistic production.
Students will be introduced to methods to correctly understand the interconnection between patronage and the function of illuminated books and to examine iconographic programmes within the historical context of production. Among the foreseen outcomes is a knowledge of the different types of illuminated books used in these contexts, both liturgical and secular, and of their distinctive features.
During the course students will acquire the ability to recognize illuminated manuscripts pertaining to the contexts considered in the module, to become familiar with the main artists and contexts considered and to analyze illumination using the specific terminology. This expected outcome will be the consequence of the interaction between the knowledge taught during the course and the further reading suggestions which will be provided in class.

The knowledge of illuminated books will allow them to acquire a more in-depth knowledge of artists working in the 14th century, in particular in Italy and beyond the Alps.
During the classes and the study visits time will be dedicated to seminarial activities, during which the students will be encouraged to actively take part and exercise in commenting and interpreting the analyzed images.

During the course suggestions for further reading will be systematically provided to enable students to gain an autonomous in-depth knowledge of the issues discussed during classes.

The course is aimed at acquiring knowledge on Gothic illumination, with particular attention to stylistic and iconographic problems, issues related to the client, the historical context of production and execution techniques. The relationship between illuminations, monumental painting and also other areas of artistic production in the 14th century will be brought into focus. The correlation between patronage, production and function of illuminated books will be examined and the analysis of the iconographic programs will be addressed within the historical context of production. Knowledge of miniatures will allow students to delve deeper into the activity of the artists who worked in the 14th century, with particular attention to Italian and transalpine production. Among the expected results is also a knowledge of the different book types widespread in these areas and of their illustrative systems. Students will have the opportunity to acquire the ability to identify illuminated manuscripts from the examined geographical areas, to recognize the main artists and areas of production and to analyze their illuminations correctly using the specific terminology of the discipline. This outcome will be the result of the interaction between teaching during lectures and readings.
Students will have the opportunity to acquire the ability to recognize illuminated manuscripts from the examined geographical areas and to analyze their illuminations correctly. This outcome will be the result of the interaction between teaching during lectures and supplementary readings that will be suggested during the lessons.

A thorough knowledge of Italian is required. A good basic knowledge of History of medieval Art is required. Some understanding of codicology and paleography is helpful. A working knowledge of foreign languages is advisable.

The Trecento: painting on parchment
The course will provide an overview of gothic illumination produced in Italy and Europe in the 14th century. The different centres of production will be analyzed focusing in particular on issues concerning style, but also on the relationship between text and image, on the dissemination of different types of books, and on the role of patrons and artists in the elaboration of illustrative programmes. The techniques used in illuminated books and the specific scientific terminology used in this field will be discussed.
The lessons in class will follow the chronological developments, from the beginning to the end of the century, examining the different areas in the Italian peninsula (Veneto and Emilia: 8 hours; Lombardy and Liguria: 4 hours; Florence, Siena and Avignon: 6 hours; Umbria and Abruzzi: 6 hours; Rome: 4 hours; Naples: 4 hours; Late Gothic centres: 4 hours)and some important contexts on the other side of the Alps, in particular in France, England and Flanders (6 hours). Part of the course will be dedicated to visits to historical libraries in Rome; these will allow students to examine original illuminated manuscripts corresponding to the geographical and chronological contexts considered in the course.

F. Avril, L’enluminure à l’époque gothique: 1200-1420, Paris, Bibliothèque de l'image, 1995;

F. Toniolo, Il libro miniato a Padova nel Trecento, in Il secolo di Giotto nel Veneto, Venezia, Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, 2007, pp. 107-151;

G. Mariani Canova, La miniatura a Venezia nel secolo di Giotto, in Il secolo di Giotto nel Veneto, Venezia, Istituto veneto di scienze lettere ed arti, 2007, pp. 203-233;

M.G. Ciardi Dupré Dal Poggetto, La miniatura del Trecento in Italia centrale, in La miniatura in Italia. Dal tardoantico al Trecento con riferimenti al Medio Oriente e all’Occidente europeo, ed. A. Putaturo Donati Murano, A. Periccioli Saggese, Napoli, Edizioni scientifiche, 2005, pp. 206-224;

F. Manzari, La miniatura nel secolo di Giotto, in Giotto. Il più sovrano maestro stato in dipintura, catalogue, ed. A. Tomei (Roma, Vittoriano, 6 marzo-29 giugno 2009), I. Saggi, Milano, Skira Editore, 2009, pp. 271-289;

M. Medica, Giotto e Bologna, in Giotto. Il più sovrano maestro stato in dipintura, catalogue, ed. A. Tomei (Roma, Vittoriano, 6 marzo-29 giugno 2009), I. Saggi, Milano, Skira Editore, 2009, pp. 225-251;

F. Manzari, La miniatura abruzzese di epoca gotica e tardogotica, in Illuminare l’Abruzzo. Codici miniati tra Medioevo e Rinascimento, catalogo della mostra (Chieti, Palazzo de’ Mayo, 10 maggio-31 agosto 2013), ed. G. Curzi, F. Manzari, F. Tentarelli, A. Tomei, Pescara, Carsa, 2012, pp. 58-88;

F. Manzari, Le opportunità offerte dall’esilio: componenti multiculturali e libertà di innovazione nella miniatura avignonese del Trecento, in Images and Words in exile. Avignon and Italy during the first half of 14th century, ed. by Elisa Brilli, Laura Fenelli, Gerhard Wolf, Firenze, Sismel-Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2015 (Millennio Medievale 107, Strumenti e Studi 40), pp. 325-344;

Area Occidentale. Epoca gotica, in Bibbia. Immagini e scrittura nella Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, ed. A.M. Piazzoni, with F. Manzari, Milano, Jaca Book, 2017, pp. 194-219; 242-251.

Texts for further reading:

La miniatura in Italia. I. Dal tardoantico al Trecento con riferimenti al Medio Oriente e all’Occidente europeo, ed. A. Putaturo Donati Murano e A. Periccioli Saggese, Napoli, Edizioni scientifiche, 2005, pp. 141-205; 225-245;

Dix siècles d'enluminure italienne: VIe-XVIe siècles, catalogue de l’exposition par F. Avril, Y. Zaluska, M.-T. Gousset, M. Pastoureau (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, 8 mars-30 mai 1984), Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, 1984 (esclusivamente le parti dedicate al XIV secolo)
(disponibile on-line nel sito Gallica:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65340919.r=Dix+si%C3%A8cles+d%27enluminure+italienne.langEN);


Articles:

F. Manzari, Tipologie di strumenti devozionali nella Lombardia del Trecento. I libri d’ore lombardi e l’Offiziolo Visconti, in Il Libro d’Ore Visconti. Commentario al codice, a cura di M. Bollati, Modena, Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, 2003, pp. 51-217

F. Manzari, Indagini su un Messale del Capitolo di San Pietro (Arch. Cap. S. Pietro B.64): componenti emiliane nella miniatura milanese della metà del Trecento, in “Miscellanea Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae”, XXI, 2015, pp. 221-258;

F. Manzari, La rinascita dell’iniziale figurata nella miniatura gotica e la sua circolazione tra Europa e Italia settentrionale, “Arte Medievale”, s. IV, VI, 2016, pp. 213-226;

F. Fabbri, Il codice Cocharelli fra Europa, Mediterraneo e Oriente, in La pittura in Liguria: Il Medioevo secoli XII-XIX, a cura di G. Algeri e A. De Floriani, Genova, De Ferrari, 2011, pp. 289-310;

F. Fabbri, Vizi e virtù in due codici realizzati a Genova nel Trecento fra seduzioni d’oriente e apporti toscani, “Rivista di Storia della miniatura”, 17, 2013, 95-106;

M. Subbioni, La miniatura perugina del Trecento: contributo alla storia della pittura in Umbria nel quattordicesimo secolo, 2 voll., Perugia, Guerra, 2003;

F. Manzari, La ripresa della miniatura a Roma durante lo Scisma. Miniatori, copisti e calligrafi attivi tra fine Trecento e inizio Quattrocento, in Il codice miniato in Europa. Libri per la chiesa, per la città, per la corte, a cura di G. Mariani Canova, A. Perriccioli Saggese, Padova, Il Poligrafo, 2014, pp. 401-423;

F. Manzari, Le Psautier et Livre d’Heures de Jeanne I d’Anjou. Pratiques françaises de dévotion et exaltation dynastique à la cour de Naples, “Art de l’Enluminure”, 32, 2010, pp. 2-73;

F. Manzari, Miniatori napoletani e dell’Italia centrale del Trecento nei frammenti di corali certosini raccolti da Vittorio Giovardi (Veroli, Bibl. Giovardiana, Ms. 10), in “Rivista di storia della miniatura”, 14, 2010, pp. 116-138;

F. Manzari, Un libro di storia miniato a Napoli (Vat. lat. 1860) e l’attività del Maestro del Salomone della Casanatense nella capitale angioina, in Boccaccio e Napoli. Nuovi materiali per la storia culturale di Napoli nel Trecento, Atti del Convegno Boccaccio Angioino. Per il VII centenario della nascita di Giovanni Boccaccio (Napoli-Salerno, 23-25 ottobre 2013), a cura di G. Alfano, E. Grimaldi, S. Martelli, A. Mazzucchi, M. Palumbo, A Perriccioli Saggese, C. Vecce, Firenze, Franco Cesati, 2014, pp. 405-416.


Repertories and catalogues:

Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani, a cura di M. Bollati, Milano, Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004;

Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence. 1300-1450, catalogo della mostra (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 17 November 1994-26 February 1995), New York 1994;
Treasures of a Lost Art. Italian Manuscript Painting of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, catalogo della mostra (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 30 September 2003-1 February 2004), New York 2003;

Giotto e le arti a Bologna al tempo di Bertrando del Poggetto, catalogo della mostra (Bologna, 3 dicembre 2005-28 marzo 2006) a cura di Massimo Medica, Cinisello Balsamo 2005;

L’eredità di Giotto. Arte a Firenze 1340-1375, a cura di A. Tartuferi, Firenze, Giunti, 2008;

Florence at the Dawn of the Renaissance: Painting and Illumination, 1300-1350. Catalogo della mostra (Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, 13 November 2012-10 February 2013), Los Angeles 2012

Le miniature della Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Pagine, ritagli, manoscritti, a cura di M. Medica, F. Toniolo, con la collaborazione di A. Martoni, Cinisello Balsamo, Silvana, 2016.

The course is organized comprising lessons in the classroom, accompanied by study visits to historical libraries. The lessons in the classroom will be held with the aid of projections illustrating the illuminated manuscripts studied in the course. During the lessons in the classroom facsimiles of illuminated manuscripts present in the Libraries at Sapienza, together with volumes, essays, and articles connected to the examined topics, will be used. During the study trips, which will be held in the main historical libraries in Rome, the original manuscripts will be examined. Attendance is strongly recommended.

Attendance is strongly recommended.

Oral exams on the topics and the bibliography in the course, using the images available in the textbooks.
The exam will evaluate the student's ability to correctly place and date the illuminations, to comment them critically, connecting them to their contexts, as learnt during the course and thanks to the suggested bibliography. The exam will evaluate the student's command of the scientific vocabulary used in this field, his/her ability to analyze the images, to re-elaborate the suggested reading lists, and to recognize relationships and connections of interdependence among the topics discussed during the course. A thorough knowledge of all the photograpic material in the textbooks is essential to pass the exam. Grades will correspond to the degree of familiarity with all these aspects.

Identify and comment the works of illuminators or the production of the areas considered in the course

• Illumination in France in the 13th and 14th centuries
  • Books: Avril 1995; Bibbia 2017


• Illumination in Veneto
  • Books: Toniolo 2007; Mariani Canova 2007


• Illumination in Emilia Romagna
  • Books: Medica 2009; Manzari 2009


• Illumination in Tuscany
  • Books: Ciardi Dupré Dal Poggetto 2005; Manzari 2009; Manzari 2015


• Illumination in Umbria
  • Books: Ciardi Dupré Dal Poggetto 2005; Manzari 2009


• Illumination in Abruzzo
  • Books: Manzari 2012


• Illumination in Naples
  • Books: Manzari 2009; Bibbia. Immagine e scrittura 2017