This course examines the art and printed culture produced in Europe from the fourteenth century through the sixteenth century. This period saw social, political, and religious turmoil but also tremendous artistic and cultural innovations. Foremost among these was the emergence of printmaking around 1400, when images went from unique and inaccessible to duplicate and ubiquitous. We will examine a wide range of reproduced and reproducible imagery, including prints, books, and the emergence of print reproductions of paintings. We will look at some of the key artists of the period through the lens of print media, including artists like Albrecht Dürer. In our age of infinitely multiplicable images, this course examines the original image revolution with an aim to understanding how images move through and reshape society.
- Instructor of record: Amalia Wojciechowski