ART 327 Rome, the Eternal City
No city in the world has an urban fabric so rich in historical layers and dense in historic monuments as Rome. As the heart of the ancient Roman empire, a major Christian pilgrimage destination, the seat of the papacy, and the capital of the modern nation of Italy, Rome has been the site of extraordinary urban development and artistic patronage for more than two millennia. This course surveys the topography and urbanism of Rome from its ancient origins to the present. We will examine the built environment in the largest sense of the term: architecture and urban planning in particular, but also other art forms that played a role in the defining the geography of the city, including sculpture, painting, and mosaic. The objective is to understand not only the formal qualities of Rome's great monuments, but also how they functioned, both individually and collectively, in relation to the changing social and cultural conditions of the city. In tracing this history, we will utilize literary descriptions and maps, prints, and drawings depicting Rome in the past in concert with imagery of the city as it appears today.
Cross Listed Courses
ART 327 & ART 627