HISTORY OF ART OF VENICE

AND THE VENETO

Myriam Pilutti Namer, PhD MBA

myriam.piluttinamer@unive.it
ABOUT ME
BA and MA at Ca’ Foscari in Archaeology and
History of Art
PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
MBA in International Business (MIB Trieste –
Lignan College Guangzhou)
Post-Doc in Venice and Naples
Currently Post-Doc Researcher at the Scuola
Normale Superiore, Pisa
Lecturer in History of Art for the Ca’ Foscari
School for International Education since 2015
Specialist in Roman Archaeology, Sculpture,
History of Venetian Art and History of
Archaeology
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
... First time in Europe and/or in Italy?
... Why did you choose this course?

Discuss in groups about what according to you is a

WORK OF ART
ABOUT ‘ART’
The Arts are a complex system composed by
various elements
A work of art is the result of the interaction of
men and nature and mainly of the intervention of
men on nature
The arts refer to material objects (the works of
art) but they should be communicate through non
material means (the verbal language)
The big challenge for art historians is become
able ‘to communicate’ arts
DURING THE CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY THE
WAY TO CONCEIVE THE ARTS CHANGED
WHAT ‘CLASSICS’ DOES IT MEAN?
A SYSTEM OF ARTS PRODUCED ACCORDING TO
VALUES (‘MORAL’ BEAUTY)...

Athens, Parthenon, current status

...MATHEMATICAL AND GEOMETRICAL
PROPORTIONS...
... AND HIGH LEVEL TECHNIQUE SKILLS...
AFTER THIS
‘REVOLUTION’ THE ARTS
IN EUROPE HAD ALWAYS
HAD TO FACE WITH
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY,
EVEN WHEN AN OTHER
REVOLUTION OCCURED:
THE SPREAD OF
THE CHRISTIAN
RELIGION
BASILAR ELEMENTS ON CHRISTIAN
RELIGION

Jesus Christ is considered to be the son of God

who had came to the Earth to save humanity
Jesus Christ was Jewish, the only monotheistic
religion that during the Roman Empire was
highly diffused
Jesus Christ was very probably a man that
really lived in Palestine in the 1st century BC:
also if about his life there are many and many
different sources, noone of them is
contemporary to his life
The introduction of Christianism in the Roman
Empire started changing the social and
institutional aspects of the Mediterranean area,
consequently the ‘system’ of the arts also changed
It took some centuries (the so-called MIDDLE
AGES) to assist in the Arts to a total fusion of
elements derived from the classical antiquity
AND the christian tradition
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAGOON
AND THE FOUNDATION OF VENICE
VENETIAN HISTORY IN PILLS (1ST PART)
Sporadic settlment in the lagoon since the Roman
time (I/1st century AD)
Stationary settlment from the Late Roman time
(V/5th century AD)
Torcello is a big emporium/trade place (IX and X
century/ 9th and 10th century AD)
Foundation of the civitas Rivoalti/first settlment
of the current city of Venice (IX/9th century AD)
Battles against the Arabs and the Normans for
the supremacy in the Mediterranean, often
helping the Byzantines (X and XI century/ 10th
and 11th century AD)
Recommended Reading List

M. FAVILLA, R. RUGOLO, Venezia, in Italian and

English, Vicenza, Sassi editore, 2017 [for a
general overview]
G. ORTALLI, G. SCARABELLO, A short history of
Venice, Venezia, Pacini editore 1999.
Eric R. DURSTELER (ed.), A companion to
Venetian history, 1400-1797, Leiden-Boston,
Brill, 2013 (especially the chapters: Venetian
Architecture, by D. HOWARD, pp. 743-778; Art in
Venice 1400-1600, by W. WOLTERS, pp. 779-810;
Venetian Art 1600-1797, by M. FAVILLA, R.
RUGOLO, D. MEIJERS, pp. 811-864).
Further reading:

P. FORTINI BROWN, Venice and Antiquity: The

Venetian Sense of the Past, New Haven, Yale
University Press 1996.
M. FAVILLA, F. PEDROCCO, R. RUGOLO, Frescoes
of the Veneto. Venetian Palaces and Villas, New
York, Sassi The Vendome Press, 2009.
M. FAVILLA, F. PEDROCCO, R. RUGOLO, Baroque
Venice. The opulence, dreams, and illusions of a
world in decline, Vicenza, Sassi editore, 2009.
G. FOSCARI, Elements of Venice, Zürich, Lars
Müller 2014.
S. QUILL, Ruskin's Venice: the stones revisited,
Farnham, Lund Humphries, 2015.
LIST OF TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR THE
FINAL GROUP PRESENTATIONS
Verona
Roman monuments within a medieval city;
Church of San Zeno;
Church of Sant’Anastasia;
Castelvecchio Museum: highlights;
Shakespeare in Verona between truth and legend
Padova/Padua
Giotto: life and work;
Cappella degli Scrovegni: history, commissioner,
technique;
Cappella degli Scrovegni: stories represented in the
frescoes
Basilica del Santo: history and architecture;
Basilica del Santo: major works of art;
Palazzo della Ragione
Treviso
Frescoes at the local museum (former
monastery of Santa Caterina);
Piazza dei Signori & Palazzo della
Ragione
Vicenza
Basilica Palladiana and Teatro Olimpico;
Palladian villas: an overview
Venezia
Main works by Giambattista Tiepolo;
William Turner in Venice and paintings
of Venice by Turner;
Antonio Canova in Venice
Walking tour
October, 27th

Visit to the Gallerie dell’Accademia

November, 17th