The course covers the collective works of the most important artists on view at the Prado Museum, underlining the role played by the Spanish monarchy in collecting these pieces. It also highlights how a particular way of understanding painting developed over the centuries. It furthermore places special emphasis on the role of the artist in the creation of a work of art and the search for liberty and innovation, which led them to understand artistic practice as an intellectual activity. The course, focused on the collections in the Prado Museum, although including visits to other institutions, shows firstly how the early monarchs of the Hapsburg dynasty collected works of art, not only by Spanish painters, but also by the most important painters and sculptors in Europe at that time, such as Leoni, Titian and a little later, Rubens. Later, it centres on the analysis of the paintings of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya, artists who worked at the service of two dynasties, Hapsburgs and Bourbons. Through their work one can observe the evolution of court painting and the different genres, whilst their special vision of art led them to create works which reflect the individual liberty of the artist.
The final objective of the course is to make the student understand and analyse a painting, regardless of whether or not he or she knows the author and the period in which it was painted and to provide him or her with the keys to analysing a work of art, both from the conceptual point of view (ideas and function of painting) and the formal one (composition and technique).
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Analyse a painting, both regarding its material aspect (notions of perspective, technique, colour, etc.) and its art history. This is aimed at enabling the student to apply this knowledge to any painting in museums of ancient art.
Method of presentation:
The singularity of this course stems from the direct analysis of the works on view at the Prado and other museums, except for those sessions in which, given the nature of the works – drawings and illustrations – this is not possible. These sessions will be held in a classroom at the IES Center. The classes follow a single teaching pattern which ensures that the student takes an active part in analysing the works. As the lessons are held in the Museum, the student first has to analyse the selected piece of work by him/herself and later, in response to questions posed by the instructor, begin to understand and explain the paintings. Finally, the instructor will make a broad presentation of each work of art, synthesising and discussing in depth the main aspects of painting: composition, iconography, technique and function and significance.
In view of the fact these classes are held outside the classroom, the instructor will dedicate the last few minutes of each one to answering questions posed by the students regarding the works analysed or on the compulsory reading work and set papers.
Required work and form of assessment:
1.- Two exams: one on Titian, El Greco and Velázquez and another on Goya. The exams will comprise an appraisal of the works of art analysed in class. 60% of the final grade is awarded to the exams (30% for each one). The dates of these two exams will not be changed under any circumstances.
2.- During the course, the students are to write two short papers to be handed in on exam day. For the first midterm exam, they are to make a self-portrait (photo), used as an instrument of reflection on the communicative and symbolic value of the portrait; for the second midterm exam they are to make a comparative analysis of the illustrations The Disasters of War by Francisco de Goya and war photographs of the XIX to XXI centuries. These two papers will comprise 25% of the final grade.
3.- Class attendance is mandatory. The student may be absent without justification on a maximum of 2 occasions; after this, his/her mark will be docked. For course assessment, attendance will be taken into account as well as participation in individual comments on the works of art; this counts for 15% of the final grade.
content:
Session 1: Course presentation at the IES Center
Session2 : (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Concepts, genres and art vocabulary
Session 3: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Titian, painter of the Spanish monarchy
Session 4: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Titian and mythological painting
Session 5: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) El Greco. Religious compositions.
Session 6: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) El Greco portrait painter.
Session 7: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Velázquez from Sevilla to Madrid.
Session 8: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado): Velázquez from Madrid to Italy.
Session 9: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Rubens painter and diplomat.
Session 10: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) The décor of the Palacio del Buen Retiro.
Session 11: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Las Hilanderas y los Bufones.
Session 12: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Las Meninas.
Session 13: FIRST MIDTERM EXAM
Session 14: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya, cartoon templates for tapestries (I)
Session 15: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya, cartoon templates for tapestries (II)
Session 16: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya, portrait painter.
Session 17: Visit San Antonio de la Florida Church.
Session 18: (Lecture taught at the IES Center) Goya: Los Caprichos.
Session 19: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya: royal portrait painter.
Session 20: (Lecture taught at the IES Center). Goya and the Disasters of War.
Session 21: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado): Goya: el 2 y el 3 de mayo
Session 22: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Black Paintings
Session 23: FINAL EXAM
Required readings:
PROFESSOR’S NOTES DISTRIBUTED DURING LECTURES
Recommended readings:
Catalogue for the exhibition Spanish portraits. From El Greco to Picasso. Museo Nacional del Prado, 2004.
Catalogue for the exhibition The portrait in Renaissance art. Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008.
TITIAN
• Catalogue for the exhibition Titian.: Museo del Prado, 2003
• Falomir, Miguel. Italian Renaissance Painting. Prado Museum Guides. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 1999
• Checa, Fernando. Titian and the Spanish monarchy. Madrid: Nerea, 1994
El Greco, VeláZquez And Goya In The Prado Museum
The course covers the collective works of the most important artists on view at the Prado Museum, underlining the role played by the Spanish monarchy in collecting these pieces. It also highlights how a particular way of understanding painting developed over the centuries. It furthermore places special emphasis on the role of the artist in the creation of a work of art and the search for liberty and innovation, which led them to understand artistic practice as an intellectual activity. The course, focused on the collections in the Prado Museum, although including visits to other institutions, shows firstly how the early monarchs of the Hapsburg dynasty collected works of art, not only by Spanish painters, but also by the most important painters and sculptors in Europe at that time, such as Leoni, Titian and a little later, Rubens. Later, it centres on the analysis of the paintings of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya, artists who worked at the service of two dynasties, Hapsburgs and Bourbons. Through their work one can observe the evolution of court painting and the different genres, whilst their special vision of art led them to create works which reflect the individual liberty of the artist.
The final objective of the course is to make the student understand and analyse a painting, regardless of whether or not he or she knows the author and the period in which it was painted and to provide him or her with the keys to analysing a work of art, both from the conceptual point of view (ideas and function of painting) and the formal one (composition and technique).
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Analyse a painting, both regarding its material aspect (notions of perspective, technique, colour, etc.) and its art history. This is aimed at enabling the student to apply this knowledge to any painting in museums of ancient art.
The singularity of this course stems from the direct analysis of the works on view at the Prado and other museums, except for those sessions in which, given the nature of the works – drawings and illustrations – this is not possible. These sessions will be held in a classroom at the IES Center. The classes follow a single teaching pattern which ensures that the student takes an active part in analysing the works. As the lessons are held in the Museum, the student first has to analyse the selected piece of work by him/herself and later, in response to questions posed by the instructor, begin to understand and explain the paintings. Finally, the instructor will make a broad presentation of each work of art, synthesising and discussing in depth the main aspects of painting: composition, iconography, technique and function and significance.
In view of the fact these classes are held outside the classroom, the instructor will dedicate the last few minutes of each one to answering questions posed by the students regarding the works analysed or on the compulsory reading work and set papers.
1.- Two exams: one on Titian, El Greco and Velázquez and another on Goya. The exams will comprise an appraisal of the works of art analysed in class. 60% of the final grade is awarded to the exams (30% for each one). The dates of these two exams will not be changed under any circumstances.
2.- During the course, the students are to write two short papers to be handed in on exam day. For the first midterm exam, they are to make a self-portrait (photo), used as an instrument of reflection on the communicative and symbolic value of the portrait; for the second midterm exam they are to make a comparative analysis of the illustrations The Disasters of War by Francisco de Goya and war photographs of the XIX to XXI centuries. These two papers will comprise 25% of the final grade.
3.- Class attendance is mandatory. The student may be absent without justification on a maximum of 2 occasions; after this, his/her mark will be docked. For course assessment, attendance will be taken into account as well as participation in individual comments on the works of art; this counts for 15% of the final grade.
Session 1: Course presentation at the IES Center
Session2 : (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Concepts, genres and art vocabulary
Session 3: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Titian, painter of the Spanish monarchy
Session 4: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Titian and mythological painting
Session 5: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) El Greco. Religious compositions.
Session 6: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) El Greco portrait painter.
Session 7: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Velázquez from Sevilla to Madrid.
Session 8: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado): Velázquez from Madrid to Italy.
Session 9: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Rubens painter and diplomat.
Session 10: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) The décor of the Palacio del Buen Retiro.
Session 11: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Las Hilanderas y los Bufones.
Session 12: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Las Meninas.
Session 13: FIRST MIDTERM EXAM
Session 14: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya, cartoon templates for tapestries (I)
Session 15: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya, cartoon templates for tapestries (II)
Session 16: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya, portrait painter.
Session 17: Visit San Antonio de la Florida Church.
Session 18: (Lecture taught at the IES Center) Goya: Los Caprichos.
Session 19: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Goya: royal portrait painter.
Session 20: (Lecture taught at the IES Center). Goya and the Disasters of War.
Session 21: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado): Goya: el 2 y el 3 de mayo
Session 22: (Lecture taught at the Museo del Prado) Black Paintings
Session 23: FINAL EXAM
PROFESSOR’S NOTES DISTRIBUTED DURING LECTURES
Catalogue for the exhibition Spanish portraits. From El Greco to Picasso. Museo Nacional del Prado, 2004.
Catalogue for the exhibition The portrait in Renaissance art. Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008.
TITIAN
• Catalogue for the exhibition Titian.: Museo del Prado, 2003
• Falomir, Miguel. Italian Renaissance Painting. Prado Museum Guides. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 1999
• Checa, Fernando. Titian and the Spanish monarchy. Madrid: Nerea, 1994
EL GRECO
• Álvarez Lopera, José. El Greco. Essential works. Madrid: Silex, 1993
• Catalogue for the exhibition El Greco. Identity and transformation. Madrid: Fundación Thyssen, 1999.
• Marías, Fernando. El Greco. Biography of an extravagant painter. Madrid: 1997
• Ruiz, Leticia. El Greco and Spanish Renaissance painting. Prado Museum Guides. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2001.
• Ruiz, Leticia. El Greco in the Prado National Museum. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2007
• Wethey, Harold. El Greco and his School. 2 vols. Princeton, 1962
• Wethey, Harold. El Greco y su escuela. 2 vols. Madrid, 1967.
VELÁZQUEZ
• Brown, Jonathan. Velázquez, painter and member of the Court. Madrid, Alianza, 1986.
• Brown, J., Elliot, J.H. A palace for the King. El Buen Retiro and the court of Felipe IV. Madrid, Alianza, 1981.
• Brown, Jonathan. The Golden Age of Spanish painting. Madrid, Nerea, 1990.
• Brown, Jonathan. The triumph of painting. Court collections in the XVII century. Madrid, Alianza, 1995.
• Catalogue from the exhibition Velázquez. Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1990
• Catalogue from the exhibition Fables of Velázquez. Madrid, Museo del Prado, 2007
• Gállego, Julián. Vision and symbols in Spanish painting in the XVII century. Madrid, Aguilar, 1972.
• Gállego, Julián. Diego Velázquez. Barcelona, Anthropos, 1983.
• Harris, Enriqueta. Velázquez. Vitoria, Ephialte, 1991
• Justi, Karl. Velázquez and his century (1888). Madrid, Espasa, 2000
• López-Rey, José. Velázquez. 2 vols. Colonia, Taschen, 1996.
• Marías, Fernando. Diego Velázquez. Madrid, Historia 16, 1996.
GOYA
• Baticle, Jeanine. Goya. Barcelona, Grijalbo-Mondadori, 1995.
• Bozal, Valeriano. Image of Goya. Madrid, Lumen, 1983.
• Bozal, Valeriano. Goya and modern taste. Madrid, Alianza, 1994.
• Bozal, Valeriano. Goya: life and work. Madrid, Tf, 2006.
• Catalogue from the exhibition Goya in wartime. Madrid, Museo del Prado, 2008
• Catalogue from the exhibition Goya and the spirit of the Englightenment. Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1988
• Catalogue from the exhibition Goya: Caprice and invention. Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1993
• Carrete, Juan and Jesusa Vega. Goya the engraver. Cuadernos de arte español, 44. Madrid, Historia 16, 1992.
• Carrete, Juan. Goya. Illustrations: engravings and lythographs. Madrid, Electa, 2008.
• Gassier, Pierre; Wilson Juliet. Life and work of Goya. Barcelona, Noguer, 1975.
• Glendinning, Nigel. Francisco de Goya. Madrid: Historia 16, 2002
• Helman, Edith. The Inner World of Goya. Madrid, Revista de Occidente, 1963. Reed Alianza Editorial.
• Moreno de las Heras, Margarita. Goya, paintings in the Prado Museum. Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1997.
• Tomlinson, Janis. Francisco de Goya. The cartoons for tapestries and the beginnings of art in his career. Madrid, Cátedra, 1993.
• Tomlinson, Janis. Goya and the waning of the enlightenment. Madrid, Cátedra, 1993.
• Mena, Manuela (dir.). Goya and Spanish XVIII century painting. Prado Museum Guides. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2000.
• Matilla, José Manuel et alt., Goya. The book on the Caprices. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 1999.
• Matilla, José Manuel et alt., Goya. The book on the Disasters. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2000.
• Matilla, José Manuel et alt., Goya. The book on Tauromachy. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2001.