Courtauld summer school day 2

Today’s second day of the summer school started with two lectures this morning.

Firstly one on the study and collection of antiquities in Rome looking at why they were collected, how they were displayed and what the effects of this were. I’ve always been fascinated by the use of antique statues in art and how the models are reused in many pictures. I am now desperate to go back to Rome and do the Belvedere courtyard and the Capitaline museum.

The second lecture built on this but looked specifically at the effects on architecture and in particular the work of Bramante. I loved the fact he was so ambitious but that many of the buildings were actually poorly built. It was very interesting to look at the different designs for the new St Peter’s and what they meant.

This afternoon was a trip to the National Gallery looking at relevant works. We started with Raphael’s Julius II and compared it to Bellini’s Doge looking at what both were saying politically as well as artistically. We then looked at various altar pieces and discussed their development and what the phrase “High Renaissance” means. I’m starting to see what it means but not sure yet if I agree. I don’t like the implication that what came before was any less.

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