Module Directory

Baroque Europe. This module aims at an understanding the problem of naturalism in Baroque art by seeing it in relation to broader transformations in the culture of Europe in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We will study the work of major artists – including Caravaggio, Bernini, Velázquez, Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Vermeer - as well as others less well known.

While the course covers both secular and sacred art, a central theme will be visual culture in the context of the reformed and revitalized Catholic Church that emerged in Europe following the tumult of the sixteenth century. Among the topics examined through the lens of art and its relationship to nature will be: how artists negotiated the new demands placed on art by the Council of Trent; debates about the relative merits of naturalism and classicism; the evolving social status of the artist; theories of imitation and originality; the emergent art market in the Protestant Netherlands; the visual culture of the triumphant Catholic Church in Baroque Rome; the role of artists in the construction of a ruling identity.

The aims of this module are:

• To investigate the relationship between art and nature in a specific time period and geographical location.


• To consider the ways in which art and architecture have engaged with the natural world.


• To consider how art and architecture have been used to represent the natural world.


• To encourage students to develop skills in written communication through the writing of essays, and in oral communication through active participation in seminars.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. A substantial understanding of the relationship between art and nature in a specific period and geographical location(s).


2. The ability to critically describe, analyse and interpret works of art and/or architecture featured in the module.


3. The ability to write in a sophisticated and informed manner on the relationship between art and nature and to form an argument relating to various aspects of the topic.


4. The mature ability to relate works of art to primary sources, and art historical and theoretical literature relating to the topics covered on the module.

Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

By the end of this module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:

1. Define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant.


2. Seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information.


3. Process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments.


4. Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.


5. Write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications


6. Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.


7. Think laterally and creatively (i.e., to explore interesting connections and possibilities, and to present these clearly rather than as vague hunches).


8. Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position based on feedback.


9. Think critically and constructively.


10. Utilise their skills in visual memory.

Topics will include:

• Classicism and naturalism in the art of the Carracci.


• Caravaggio's Naturalism.


• Imitation and Emulation in Rubens and Poussin.


• The Caravaggisti.


• Dutch Landscapes and Still Life.


• Rembrandt and Vermeer.


• The Spectacle of Bernini.


• Spanish Naturalism.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour combined lecture and seminar per week.

There will also be Reading Week when no teaching will take place, exact week to be confirmed.