ART 346 Art, Religion and Magic in Renaissance and Baroque Italy
This course explores Renaissance and Baroque beliefs in the power of images to transform their beholders. The idea that images might produce profound mental and physical changes in viewers was widely articulated in the period 1450 to 1650. They might soothe a troubled soul, create healthy and beautiful bodies, and mitigate physical suffering. This course will consider varied types of images, including miraculous images, and magical images, their functions and their efficacy. How did images heal the sick, cheer distressed or melancholic beholders, or transform the physical appearance of their beholders? To what extent did the expectations of efficacy attaching to paintings differ from other forms of talismanic images? Among the questions this course will consider: how did artists approach the creation of images with such expectations in mind? And knowing that their paintings were supposed to transform, how did they address specific audiences (male vs. female, for example)?