History: How Renaissance Art Interpreted Christmas

The course will begin with Giotto and his work at the beginning of the fourteenth century, which is on the cusp of the proto-Renaissance and the Renaissance proper. We shall explore how he constructs the figure of the Virgin, particularly, and how this depiction marks a movement away from a Byzantine style.

Secondly, we will discover how Fra Angelico alters the architectural composition of religious paintings, and begins a transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance.

Our third artist Botticelli will introduce us to new departures in the forms of symbolism and iconography associated with religious and Nativity art in general. We will relate this symbolism to other systems of Christian symbolism occurring in Italy and beyond at its period in the early fifteenth century.

When we reach Breughal, we will discuss his ‘winter art’ and representations of the Christmas story in such objects as Books of Hours.

Finally, we will discuss Caravaggio and how he revolutionised the portrayal of such figures as the shepherds present at the Nativity, through the introduction of a darker and more human stripping away of traditional symbolism from earlier in the Renaissance.

The course will be stimulating, contentious and richly informative, and will provide you with the impetus to explore the subject more deeply.