DU2035 Seminar: Art and science in Early modern Europe

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D.
Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 8:00–9:40 K24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 10 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/10, only registered: 0/10, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/10
Course objectives
This seminar examines the connections between the visual arts and science in the early modern period. Readings and seminar discussions will be focused on such issues as the link between optics and new ways of seeing, the science of perspective, the visual culture of the anatomy demonstration, scientific illustration, the connection between city views and cartography, art and science in the kunstkammer, alchemy, as well as science and magic.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the students should:
have gained a broad chronological understanding of the relations between science and art in early modern Europe
be acquainted with the range of factors, created conditions for a configuration between art and science
be able to identify and summarize the key issues of the topic
Syllabus
  • Renaissance machines
  • Mirrors and perspective
  • Anatomical image
  • Mapping space
  • Wonder and science in the kunstkammer
  • Images of plants and animals
  • Science and spectacle in the Enlightenment
Literature
  • BROTTON, Jerry. Trading territories : mapping the early modern world. First published. London: Reaktion Books, 2018, 285 stran. ISBN 9781780239293. info
  • Alchemy and Rudolf II : exploring the secrets of nature in Central Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Edited by Ivo Purš - Vladimír Karpenko. 2nd edition, 1st English edi. Prague: Artefactum, 2016, 869 stran. ISBN 9788086890852. info
  • Ephemeral bodies : wax sculpture and the human figure. Edited by Julius von Schlosser - Roberta Panzanelli. Los Angeles, Calif.: Getty Research Institute, 2008, vii, 327. ISBN 9780892368778. info
  • KEMP, Martin. Seen/unseen : art, science, and intuition from Leonardo to the Hubble telescope. 1st pub. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, xvi, 352. ISBN 0199295727. info
  • STAFFORD, Barbara Maria. Artful science : enlightenment, entertainment and the eclipse of visual education. 2nd print. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1999, xxix, 350. ISBN 0262193426. info
  • STAFFORD, Barbara Maria. Body criticism : imaging the unseen in enlightenment art and medicine. 1st MIT Press pbk. ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1993, xxi, 587. ISBN 0262691655. info
  • KEMP, Martin. The Science of art : optical themes in western art from Brunelleschi to Seurat. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990, viii, 375. ISBN 0300052413. info
  • ALPERS, Svetlana. The art of describing : Dutch art in the seventeenth century. London: Penguin Books, 1983, xxvii, 273. ISBN 0140228616. info
Teaching methods
Students will be required to take part in discussions and present readings and work on a group research paper related in some way to the issues explored in class.
Assessment methods
Participation in discussions, two presentations of readings, research essay
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2020/DU2035