This course investigates the artistic and cultural production of Northern Europe (the Netherlands, Germany, and France) from 1400-1568, a period that witnessed spectacular events of social change. Among these were the religious upheaval of the Reformation, the growth of cities and an urban middle class that competed with court centers for power, and increased global trade and cross-cultural contact. In each of these instances, artists and artworks shaped, and were shaped by, the changes taking place around them. We will engage the artworks and objects of this period using a variety of approaches, such as:

• examining a wide array of media, including painting, print, sculpture, and architecture;
• learning to understand different genres of images, and their contexts of display and use (for example, altarpieces and devotional images, landscapes, portraits, allegories, and market scenes);
• looking at multiple social perspectives, including the emerging middle class, different religious traditions, and women as artists, patrons, and consumers.

At every turn, we will see the many ways Northern European artists and their audiences thought about, and experimented with, the knowledge and cultural heritage of ancient Greece and Rome, in addition to their own local traditions—as well as the usefulness of concepts like "Northern Renaissance" to describe these phenomena

Textbooks/Other Materials: Jeffrey Chipps Smith, The Northern Renaissance (London, New York: Phaidon Press, 2004). About $35 new on Amazon (or $20 used).

Course Requirements:
Attendance, participation, and small weekly assignments/reading responses: 35%
Midterm exam: 20%
Short paper: 20%
Final paper or project: 25%

Intended Audience: All undergraduates welcome, including majors. No prior knowledge required.

Class Format: Two three-hour meetings per week, combining lecture and discussion centered around key objects.

Estimated cost of materials: $0-50.

HISTART Concentration Distributions: D. Europe and the US, 2. Medieval, 3. Early Modern.