Twenty-second International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The paper discusses teaching an art history course dedicated to the Renaissance to American students for five weeks in Arezzo, Italy. The focus upon art from Arezzo make the curriculum unique for studies of Italian Renaissance Art as Florence, Rome and other historical centers are less central to the discussion. Topics focus on Arezzo’s Etruscan heritage; the association that Petrarch had to the city-state; the role of St. Francis throughout Tuscany; and the lives of Aretine artists such as Spinello Aretino and Giorgio Vasari. Vasari’s frescoes, created for his house, has imagery that celebrates other master artists from the city. The complex iconographic subject matter complements his “Lives of the Artists” or “Vite”, a primary source for the biographies of Renaissance artists. A discussion of the course content may provide a model for a course on the visual arts and humanities and for the study of Renaissance art from other regional centers in Italy.