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Topic 1: Nature and the Pastoral

This topic explores the changing attitudes towards nature in this period as manifested in literature, the visual arts, and garden design. ÌýThough the pastoral had a long tradition in Latin poetry from Theocritus and Virgil up through Petrarch, it was the sixteenth century that witnessed the advent of a new genre in the vernacular, the pastoral romance, in Jacopo Sannazaro’s Arcadia. ÌýSimilarly, representations of landscape assumed greater prominence in the paintings and prints of this era, particularly in and around Venice, while across the peninsula a renewed interest in the suburban villa was accompanied by a profusion of innovative and elaborately designed gardens. ÌýMany of these phenomena had their roots in classical antiquity but were given new life and form within the specific political and cultural conditions of Cinquecento Italy.Ìý

Topic 2: Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna: Art and Poetry

Michelangelo was one of the most famous artists of the Renaissance, while Vittoria Colonna was the sixteenth century’s most well-known female poet. ÌýAmorous desire and religious devotion are inextricably bound up with notions of the self, sexuality, and creative expression in the poetic and artistic production of these singular individuals who not only worked independently, but also shared one of the most famous friendships of the era. ÌýExchanging gifts and letters, they shared a relationship that was both intimate and resonated across cultural spheres. ÌýThis module will examine the themes of love and devotion that bound their works, as well as questions of gender, fame, and legacy.

Topic 3: "Constructing Women" in Early Modern ItalyÌý

This topic will explore early modern views on women’s roles and their status in society, by investigating a number of conduct literature texts for and about women, by male and female authors, as well as works on the so called Querelle des femmes, the debate on the ‘inferiority’ or ‘superiority’ of women in relation to men. In the 16th and 17th centuries, a rich number of works were published in Italy dealing with women's nature and their role in society, their education, and their behaviour within the family and the domestic context, or at court (and in the convents). This rich production comprises text of different genres, ranging from prose and poetry, to sermons and letters, diaries or legal documents, as well as prescriptive treatises and dialogues that aimed to 'construct' an ideal model of women, in the different stages of their lives.

Topic 4: Global and Local: Forming identity in 16th century Italy

Though Italy was not itself a colonial power in the early modern period, it became ever more imbricated in European hegemonic extension across the globe in the sixteenth century. ÌýPolitically, different families of ruling elites were linked by marriage and allegiance to Imperial powers like the Habsburgs, while Italian merchants and bankers were essential in shaping the economic networks that linked these expansionist ventures. ÌýRome, as the epicentre of the Catholic Church, operated a vast missionary system in which orders such as the Dominicans, Franciscans, and especially the newly founded Jesuits, sought to extend the reach of Christianity to all of humanity. ÌýFinally, as collectors and producers of artefacts and knowledge, Italians were active participants in the epistemological discourses of the period. ÌýAll of these seismic cultural changes entailed shifting notions of identity, which were frequently articulated in new, or newly innovated, visual and textual media. ÌýThis module will explore these issues through a range of sources, including epistolary and travel literature, cartographic production, costume books, and contemporary fashion.

Topic 5: Linguistic Thought in Early Modern Italy: The Vernacular Codification and Language

This topic examines the debates on the nature, definition and role of the literary vernacular in Renaissance Italy, in relation to the historical, cultural and social context. At the time, Italy was still a fragmented country, politically as well as linguistically, with a range of different vernaculars (later called dialects) being used in everyday language. The development and spread of the printing press across the peninsula meant there was an increased need for a more 'standardised' literary language. Lively debates developed among men of letters and theorists on the nature and definition of this literary vernacular, as well as the relationship between the vernacular(s) and the classical languages, in particular Latin, the language of culture par excellence and the language of the Church. This topic also discusses the process of codification of 'Italian' as a prestigious literary language, by means of grammars and dictionaries and investigates the access to the literary language by the less learned. You do not need a background in linguistics to study this topic.Ìý

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