History of Modern Art II - LM [Sede TN] (2020/2021)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to improve the ability of independent analysis and develop a mature mastery of the critical tools of the discipline in relation to specific aspects of the history of modern art.

On the Traces of Saint Anne between the Transalpine and the Trentino-Tyrol Area

On the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to the cult and iconography of St. Anne in the historical Tyrol, which will be held at the Diocesan Museum of Trento in the summer and autumn of 2021, this course focuses on the fortune of the cult of St. Anne and the iconography of the Madonna and Child with St. Anne and the so-called Holy Kinship (which represents the entire family of St. Anne). In particular, the course place attention on the period spanning from the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century.
The veneration of St. Anne is one of the most remarkable religious phenomena in the decades preceding the Reformation when the cult of the saint experienced a strong surge, especially in the Flemish-German area. From that geographical region, the cult spread in various ways to neighbouring territories, including Trentino-Tyrol, as evidenced by the numerous works of art depicting the Holy Kinship and the Madonna and Child with St. Anne mapped in this territory.
By starting from the presentation of the figure of St. Anne and the events that led to a dramatic rise of the cult dedicated to her, the lectures will deal with the fortune of the veneration of the saint and her iconography through works of art coming from both the Flemish-German and Italian-speaking areas and then focus particularly on artifacts coming from the Trentino-Tyrol area that are still little known to studies. The artworks scattered on the Trentino-Tyrol region, examined during the course, will be set in the artistic development of the territory to track the incidence of foreign artists in the arrival of the cult and iconography of St. Anne in that region. The lectures will be carried out with the support of projected images, which will be made available, together with any other teaching materials, via the Moodle platform. This activity will be accompanied by individual study.

Bibliography for those who will attend the lectures:

Pamela Sheingorn, Appropriating the Holy Kinship: Gender and Family History, in Interpreting Cultural Symbols. Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society, edited by Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn, Athens and London 1990, pp. 169-198.

Lucia Longo, Il trittico della Sacra Parentela a Sant’Anna di Sopramonte, in “Studi Trentini di Scienze Storiche”, LXX, 1991, 2, pp. 181-213.

Those who will not attend the lectures should also read one of the following contributions:

Roger J. Crum e David G. Wilkins, In the Defense of Florentine Republicanism: Saint Anne and Florentine Art, 1343-1575, in Interpreting Cultural Symbols. Saint Anne in Late Medieval Society, edited by Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn, Athens and London 1990, pp. 131-168.

Pamela Sheingorn, “The Wise Mother”: The Image of St. Anne Teaching the Virgin Mary, in “Gesta”, XXXII, 1993, 1, pp. 69-80.

Matteo Ferrari, Dipinti medievali in San Giorgio a Brescia. Appunti attorno all’iconografia della Sant’Anna Metterza, in “Brixia Sacra”, terza serie, XIII, 2008, 1/2, pp. 437-506.

Lukas Madersbacher, Die Burgkapelle als Ort verwandtschaftlicher Inszenierung - Neue Familienbilder an der Zeitenwende, in Burgkapellen. Formen – Funktionen – Fragen, proceedings of the conference of Bressanone (Hofburg and Accademia Cusanus, 2-5 september 2015), edited by Gustav Pfeifer and Kurt Andermann, Innsbruck 2018, pp. 117-134.

Oral exames.