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The world of Sandro Botticelli: artists, patrons, humanists

Level: BA, 2nd or 3rd year, MA-students will be asked to produce an extended paper

Professor: Gert Jan van der Sman, PhD.

Location: Dutch University Institute for Art History, Florence (NIKI)

Dates: 12-20 February 2022 (Florence), introductory lectures (online) January 2022, deadline paper 19 March 2022

Credits: 6 ECTS (168 hours)

Costs: € 10 euro per person per night (museum visits and travel expenses not included)

Course description

During this course we will investigate Sandro Botticelli’s contacts with fellow artists, patrons and humanists. Over the past decades much research has been done on Botticelli’s social position and his place in the Florentine art world. His artistic trajectory is best understood against the backdrop of his social network and the need to distinguish himself from other artists of his generation. We will analyse Botticelli’s relationships with other key figures of the Florentine Renaissance. The students will become familiar with examples of rivalry and competition (Pollaiuolo, Ghirlandaio, Leonardo da Vinci), as well as examples of cooperation and friendship (the poet and scholar Angelo Poliziano, members of the Vespucci family, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici). Due weight will furthermore be given to the logistic of artistic production in late 15th-century Florence. Botticelli’s life and work will therefore be examined from different perspectives in order to uncover the links between art, history and humanist culture.

Course objectives

To gain familiarity with an array of critical approaches to Italian Renaissance art. Special attention will be paid to interpreting works of art in relation to social and cultural contexts. Reading research will be combined with formal analysis and close examination of documentary evidence, contemporary treatises and literary texts. Finally the combination of class discussions and assignments will aid the students to develop their mastery of academic skills such as critical thinking and writing a paper

For more information, see the pdf document (in Dutch).

To apply

Please send your cv with GPA and letter of motivation before December 12th 2021 to sman@nikiflorence.org