History of medieval Art

Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: ADRIANO NAPOLI

Expected Learning Outcomes

The course aims to provide basic knowledge and understanding of the History of art in Italy and Europe from the early Christian age to the first half of the 15th century (DD1). Targeted insights will be dedicated to the city of Catania in the Middle Ages. Among the specific objectives, on the basis of the Dublin Descriptors [DD], the students will acquire: the ability to analyze, from an iconographic and stylistic point of view, the works of art in the program and to apply the acquired knowledge (DD2); the ability to place the works in the appropriate space-time frame, understanding the relationships with the political, religious and cultural context of reference with autonomy of judgment (DD3); the ability to critically describe and comment on works of art, using the specific lexicon of the discipline (DD4); the ability to plan tourist thematic itineraries with particular reference to the Sicilian reality (DD5).

Course Structure

Lectures and on-site visits.

Required Prerequisites

Knowledge of the general outlines of Italian and European medieval history.

Attendance of Lessons

Not compulsory.

Detailed Course Content

Early Christian, Byzantine and Early Medieval art

Romanesque art in Italy and Europe (architecture, sculpture, painting)

Gothic art in Italy and Europe (architecture, sculpture, painting)

Late Gothic

Early Renaissance (architecture, sculpture, painting)

Art in Italy in the mid-15th century

Catania Cathedral

Textbook Information

Handbook

G. Cricco and F.P. Di Teodoro, Itinerario nell’arte. Versione gialla, 4th ed., Zanichelli, Bologna 2016, vol. II, Dall’arte paleocristiana a Giotto [ISBN: 9788808437846], pp. 456-461, 483-550, 556-581, 589-596, 598-633, 636-671, 678-703, 708-843 and 848-859.

G. Cricco and F.P. Di Teodoro, Itinerario nell’arte. Versione gialla, 4th ed., Zanichelli, Bologna 2016, vol. III, Dal Gotico internazionale al Manierismo [ISBN: 9788808649751], pp. 2-169, 284-287 and 328-329.

Monographic readings: Catania Cathedral

T. Bella, Ansgerius quod ego… ecclesiae primus fundamina ieci. La cattedrale normanna di Catania: materiali per un riesame, in «Arte Cristiana», CVI, 2018, 909, pp. 404-421 (online at elearning.unict.it).

Course Planning

	Subjects	Text References
1	Early Christian and Byzantine art	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 456-461, 483-533, 556-581, 589-596
2	Art of the Migration and Lombard Ages	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 534-550, 589-591
3	Carolingian and Ottonian art	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 556-581, 592-595
4	Romanesque architecture in Italy and Europe	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 598-633
5	Romanesque sculpture in Italy and Europe	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 636-651
6	Romanesque painting in Italy and Europe	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 652-671
7	Gothic art in Europe	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 678-703, 848-850
8	Gothic architecture in Italy	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 708-721, 770-784
9	Gothic sculpture in Italy	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 722-740
10	Gothic painting in Italy before Giotto	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 741-769, 834-838
11	Giotto	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 784-805, 851-859
12	Gothic painting in Italy after Giotto	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, II, pp. 806-832, 839-843
13	Late Gothic	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, III, pp. 2-31
14	Early Renaissance architecture	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, III, pp. 32-64
15	Early Renaissance sculpture	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, III, pp. 64-91, 112-117
16	Early Renaissance painting	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, III, pp. 92-111, 328-329
17	Mid-15th century	Cricco - Di Teodoro 2016, III, pp. 118-169, 284-287
18	Catania Cathedral in the Middle Ages	Bella 2018

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Optional written or oral mid-term tests; oral final exam. The assessment will take into account the candidate’s mastery of the content and skills acquired, linguistic accuracy and lexical propriety, as well as his/her dialectic ability.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Analysis and historical contextualization of a monument, an artwork or the production of an artist.

Recognition of an artwork.

Galla Placidia Mausoleum and San Vitale in Ravenna

Hagia Sophia in Constantinople

Cividale del Friuli

The Palatine Chapel of Aachen

Illumination in the Ottonian Age

Saint Ambrose in Milan

Saint Mark in Venice

Modena Cathedral

Pisa Cathedral

Norman Sicily

Catania Cathedral

The cathedrals of Florence and Siena

Nicola and Giovanni Pisano

Arnolfo di Cambio

Cimabue and Duccio di Buoninsegna

Giotto

Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Brunelleschi

Donatello

Masaccio

Leon Battista Alberti and Piero della Francesca

Degree Course in

Tourism Science