All upcoming World Art History Certificate: Electives programs

Unlike other great painters of 16th-century Venice such as Titian and Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto was born and bred in the lagoon city. A considerable number of his works remain there to this day in the churches, confraternity buildings, and palaces for which they were commissioned. Art historian Sophia D’Addio of Columbia University explores a selection of Tintoretto’s dramatic and expressive sacred works located in such beautiful settings as the Church of the Madonna dell'Orto, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and San Giorgio Maggiore. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo used the most universal artistic language available—the human body in all its configurations. From the spark of life given to Adam and Eve to the Last Judgment, his frescoes blazed a path toward secularism despite the chapel’s religious themes. Art historian Liz Lev examines the evolution of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a work so astounding it changed the course of Western art. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Roman Gaul, the area of southern France that today includes Provence, is an important repository of Roman culture, with many works built in Gaul still standing. Art historian Christopher Gregg explores the history and the physical remains of sites, including the Amphitheater of the Three Gauls; a rare watermill; and a remarkably preserved cargo ship; as well as a variety of beautiful sculptures and mosaics. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Cave temples at sites such as Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, and Badami are notable not just for their antiquity and religious significance but also for the ingenious, sophisticated techniques used to excavate them from the sides of mountains. Art historian Robert DeCaroli examines the history of these Jain, Buddhist, Hindu, and Ajivika temples and monasteries, how they were made, and how they are being protected today. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

New York City in the early decades of the 20th century was a shaping force of America’s national culture. Cultural historian George Scheper explores the impact of the Progressive Era and the subsequent Jazz Age as reflected in the art, literature, and architecture created in the metropolis. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

In the late 1930s and early 1940s the United States saw an explosion of exhibitions of art and artifacts from the pre-Columbian Americas. As World War II loomed, America promoted cultural diplomacy with its hemispheric neighbors as part of the Pan-Americanism movement, which sought to create greater international understanding and collaboration. Ellen Hoobler, a curator at Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, explores the idea of cultural diplomacy and the important role art can play between nations. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

One of the greatest colorists, Pierre Bonnard created portraits, landscapes, and interiors built of luscious brushwork and informed by a freedom that allowed him to envision the world in a dreamlike, personal way unbound by constraints of visual realism or academic artistic conventions. Art critic Judy Pomeranz explores Bonnard’s vision, life, and influences and the world in which he lived. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Among the city-states of Italy, Mantua stands out for its remarkable transformation under the Gonzaga family from 1328 to 1707. Despite their often-tyrannical rule and focus on warfare, the Gonzagas significantly elevated Mantua’s status through their patronage, ushering in a golden age of the arts and architecture. Art historian Elaine Ruffolo traces the Gonzagas’ reign and the dynamics of court life in a city that remains a vibrant testament to its Renaissance legacy. (World Art History Certificate elective, ½ credit)

The Civil War had as profound and lasting an impact on American art as it did on American culture. Eleanor Jones Harvey, author of The Civil War and American Art and senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, explores the “metaphorical war” in which landscape painters conveyed the mood of the nation in their work and genre painters addressed slavery and questioned the kind of nation that would emerge from the conflict. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

In the latter half of the 20th century, architects broke free from the restraints of individual traditional styles and found new inspiration in a mix of them, creating combinations of bright colors and asymmetrical shapes interpreted in a variety of materials. Modern architecture specialist Bill Keene surveys the diverse threads linking the elements in this approach to design as seen in the works of I.M. Pei, Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, and other Postmodern creators who rejected the formal for the unusual, the colorful, and the unexpected. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)