The history of adornment [ LHART2230 ]

PowerPoint presentations, bibliography, condition report, glossary

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The course will consider the history of ornament from the 15th to the 18th centuries through a variety of media: the decorative arts, architecture, sculpture, painting, the graphic arts. At the same time, attention will be paid to historiographical, theoretical and methodological aspects related to the subject of ornament.

The aim is to acquire in-depth knowledge in the field of the history of ornament in the Renaissance and Baroque, at the same time as acquiring a vocabulary appropriate for the field of ornament, a method for the analysis of systems of ornament and, finally, an understanding of the historiographical and theoretical issues involving ornament in the literature of art and in scientific writing.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Oral examination for which the student will have some preparation time (and/or, possibly, depending on the number of students, an individual assignment).

The course will be based on lectures by the teacher or by guest speakers. There may be field trips and also presentations of papers by students

The course is structured around a historical, formal and thematic approach to ornament (through the study of certain styles or distinctive motifs, such as gothic-renaissance, grotesques, leather, rockeries, etc.) while at the same time introducing students to methodological study (on the basis of individual case studies) and by initiating semiotic and theoretical consideration of the issue of ornament (through analysis of writings connected to it). The course will make students aware of the inherent interdisciplinarity of ornament by dealing with a great diversity of media: the decorative arts (furniture, costume, stained glass), architecture, sculpture, the graphic arts and painting.

A reading list will be given out at the beginning of the year.

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