Men and Women of the Italian Renaissance II
Lecturers: Dr Kathleen Olive, Freya Middleton, Dr Nick Gordon, Dr Will Vicsonti
Course Description
When we travel to Italy, it’s the material reminders of the past that seduce us: the extraordinary patrimony of paintings, sculptures and buildings that the country preserves. But these objects are the tangible result of something that is often much harder to visualise: the life, times and even personalities of the patrons who commissioned them. Can we know much about these people? What kind of records have they left, and to what extent can we recreate their lives?
As fascinating as the great men and women of the Italian Renaissance are, they are particularly thrown into relief when set aside their contemporaries, from family and peers, to rivals and even sworn enemies. In this course, we investigate a pair of Renaissance Italian characters every week, putting the flesh back on their bones and allowing them to speak to you directly through their biographies, writings and great works they commissioned.
In this 8 week course we delve into the lives and worlds of diverse figures, from great artists such as Michelangelo and Piero della Francesca, to key patrons of arts and letters such as Isabella d’Este and the Strozzi and Medici families of Florence, and the lives of women in the Renaissance courts of Italy.
Course Content
Session 1: Dr Nick Gordon: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Brunelleschi
Session 2: Dr Kathleen Olive: Palla and Alessandra Strozzi
Session 3: Freya Middleton: Michelangelo and the Medici
Session 4: Dr Kathleen Olive: Isabella and Beatrice d’Este
Session 5: Dr Will Visconti: Veronica Franco and Baldassare Castiglione
Session 6: Freya Middleton: Cosimo I and Giorgio Vasari
Session 7: Dr Will Visonti: Olimpia Maidalchini & Vannozza dei Cattanei
Session 8: Dr Nick Gordon: Leon Bastista Alberti and Piero della Francesca
Lecturers
Dr Kathleen Olive is well known to Italian enthusiasts for her lectures and seminars, including popular short courses at the WEA, Sydney, and national lectures for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Association (ADFAS). She has worked as a cultural tour leader for over 15 years, with deep expertise in Italy, and in France, Spain and Japan. Her published research on a Renaissance Italian manuscript, the so-called Codex Rustici, was presented to Pope Francis I in 2015 as the official gift of the Florentine Curia.
Freya Middleton has an M.A. from Warwick University and over 15 years’ experience as a specialist tour guide in Florence. Resident in her beloved city for the entirety of her adulthood, Freya is deeply enmeshed in Florentine life and has for many years been ranked the top guide in the city. A regular presenter at the British Institute of Florence, she is also the preferred lecturer and guide of the Advancing Women Artists Foundation (Florence) and for the Australia Council’s Venice Biennale delegates. Venice is yet another of Freya’s areas of expertise, and she has been awarded a prestigious internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Her enthusiasm for all things Italian is infectious, and her gift of the gab legendary.
Dr Nick Gordon has extensive experience as a cultural tour leader, having taken small group tours from Australia to Italy, the Low Countries, Germany and Scandinavia for more than ten years. He is a practising and exhibiting artist with an encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary art, and his research on the Italian Middle Ages has won numerous academic scholarships and prizes (including a University of Sydney medal in History).
Dr Will Visconti has a PhD in French Studies and Italian Studies from the University of Sydney. He has taught art history, French and Italian at the University of Sydney, where he is an Adjunct Lecturer, and Central St Martins College, London. His research focuses on sex, the arts and transgression in history and ranges across numerous disciplines - literature, cultural studies, theatre and art history.
Course Structure
8 x 1.5 hour sessions
Each session includes an interactive lecture and time for group discussion and analysis.
Please note that the lecture component of each session may be recorded, in case a participant misses a session.
Course Dates
Session 1: Wednesday 29 July 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 2: Wednesday 5 August 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 3: Wednesday 12 August 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 4: Wednesday 19 August 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 5: Wednesday 26 August 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 6: Wednesday 2 September 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 7: Wednesday 9 September 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Session 8: Wednesday 16 September 4:00-5:30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Price
A$200
REquirements
This course does not require any assumed knowledge, only a willingness to learn and an interest in art.
Sessions require access to ZOOM (which is free), a device with a camera (such as a tablet or computer with a webcam), and an internet connection.