Art & Architecture In France From The Late Gothic To The Baroque Periods

Center:

Paris

Program(s):

Paris - French Studies

Discipline(s):

Art History

Course code:

AH 306

Terms offered:

Spring

Credits:

Language of instruction:

French

Instructor:

Mme Renée Moll

Description:

A chronological study of the evolution of French art and architecture from the primitive and flamboyant forms of the late Gothic through the Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque. Religious and secular structures, sculpture, tapestry, altar pieces, fresco painting, illuminated manuscripts and painting are analyzed in the context of certain periods, "schools," artists and regions in France. The course also examines the links between the evolution of French art and French political history (territory division, conflicts and alliances, European relations, evolution of the monarchy, discovery of other forms of art during military campaigns in Italy.

Method of presentation:

Lecture and discussion, student presentations (oral), site visits.

Field study:

Site visits will include:

Musée de Cluny
Louvre
Château d’Ecouen
Les Tombeaux des rois de France à Saint Denis
Château de Maisons
Architectures de Jules Hardouin Mansart à Paris
Château de Versailles
Châteaux du Val de Loire, Fontainebleau et Vaux-le-Vicomte

Required work and form of assessment:

Mid-term exam or 20-30 minute presentation (30%) Journal (30%) Final Exam (40%)

content:

Religious and secular architecture from the late 14th through the 15th centuries; the Gothic flamboyant style; structural evolution of churches, castles, mansions.
Stylistic and thematic evolution of the "Ecole de Paris" painters (1328-1430); illuminated manuscripts (Duc de Berry); different styles from Jean Pucelle to Maître de Bedford; altar pieces from around 1400.
Stylistic and thematic evolution of the "Ecole d'Avignon" from 1344 (death of Simone Martini) to 1483 (death of Nicolas Froment); altar pieces and illuminations by Euguerrand Quarton and Barthélémy d'Eyck; sculpture, altar pieces, illuminations in Burgundy from Philip le Hardi to the death of Charles le Téméraire.
Art in the Val de Loire and Berry at the time of Charles VII and Louis XI; the art of J. Fouquet.
Interaction between art and alchemy at the end of the Gothic era; field trips to Palace of Jacques Coeur in Bourges and Le Plessis Bourre; study of the Lady with the Unicorn at the Cluny museum in Paris (medieval and Renaissance art).
The final stages of "primitivism" in France at the end of the 15th century (le Maître de Moulins, Louis Brea, Nicolas Dippre, fresco painting in southeastern France).
The French Renaissance and the decline of regionalism; Bourdichon; the evolution of architecture in the Loire Valley, Paris, Burgundy, Brou (in Bresse) and the Ecole de Fontainebleau (from Francis I to Henri IV).
A. Caron; the Clouet artists (portraits); evolution of French sculpture, including funeral art (Saint Denis); Bellegambe and the Puys d'Amiens; 16th century Provence.
The major fresco cycles (Fontainebleau, Aucy Le Franc, Tanlay); the major tapestries (Ecouen, Chantilly).
The development of Baroque in Paris and Versailles.

Required readings:

Basdevant, Denise, ed. L'architecture française des origines à nos jours. Hachette. Cali, Francois. L'ordre flamboyant. Paris: Arthaud.
Frauscastel, Pierre. La peinture française. Denoel.
Laclotte, Michel, and Dominique Thiebuat. L'école d'Avignon. Flammarion. Lajta, Edit. Les primitifs français. Paris: Siloe.
Leveque, J. J. L'école de Fontainebleau. Ides et Calendes.
Ring, Grete. La peinture française au XVème siècle. Phaidon, 1949. Sterling, Charles. La peinture médiévale à Paris. Bibliothèque des Arts.