‘I turned my eyes toward Italy, whither my heart most inclined…’ (Petrarch)
In an age and country torn by war, plague, and social and religious ferment, the works of Giotto, Simone Martini, and their contemporaries brought the art of the Middle Ages to its apogee. The writings of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio revolutionised literature, though the new awareness of historical change that they bequeathed ultimately brought the period to an end.
We start with Petrarch, setting himself apart from his contemporaries (so he thought) by climbing a mountain for pleasure on the one hand, and, on the other, writing pained letters to the admired ancient philosopher and orator Cicero, who had sullied himself by participating actively in Roman politics. We then turn to a woman who involved herself very much in politics, the mystic Catherine of Siena, who campaigned vigorously to bring the papacy back from Avignon to Rome; and to Dante and Boccaccio, two great writers who responded in very different ways to women as readers (and writers?) of literature.
Italy’s city-states were amongst the wealthiest and most powerful polities in Europe and, in our discussion of Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s magnificent Allegory of Good and Bad Government – the largest and most important secular painting of the Middle Ages – the ideology of one of these, Siena, will come to life. Turning to the arts, we will read contemporary accounts of how they were practiced, and the self-serving records of the artistic competition that supposedly heralded the Renaissance: the contest between Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi to design a new set of bronze doors for the Florentine Baptistery. By the early 15th century, humanists were starting to worry whether the leading lights of the previous era had become outdated. These reflections will be the subject of our final class; though we discuss them in the knowledge that the Italian trecento went on to inspire European writers for centuries to come.
Learning outcomes
- To explore and appreciate the literature, art, and history of the early Italian Renaissance
- To practice close and critical reading on works by some of the most important and influential of European writers (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, etc)
- To develop historical skills, namely building well-reasoned and persuasive arguments based on evidence in discussion, debate, and writing
