History: Brushstrokes of History

We will learn what great artworks can tell us about the times in which they were created and the motivations of the artists. Artworks will include “The Arnolfini Portrait” by Jan van Eyck, and Rubens’ Massacre of the Innocents”; topics will also include Women Artists over the centuries from the Renaissance to the twentieth century; Rococo art in France; Napoleon in art, Goya and Picasso painting war in Spain; and Soviet Socialist Realism.

We will look at the city of Antwerp in 1550, the “sugar capital” of the world, importing the raw commodity from Portuguese and Spanish plantations; the abdication of Charles V and the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands passing to the Spanish Habsburgs; the Dutch Revolt and Antwerp becoming a Protestant-dominated city; the course will also include other significant political events such as the end of Louis XIV (the Sun King) reign in 1715, his successions by Louis XV, and then Louis XVI to 1789 when the French Revolution begins; and significant events of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s Rise to Power.