Virtuosity
in 16th-Century Printmaking
(Dürer and Goltzius)
HA 505 / 705
Spring 2002
Albrecht Dürer's achievements in engraving and in woodcut are often taken as the crowning achievements of Renaissance printmaking. This class will begin by examining Dürer's achievements with particular attention given to his engraving Melencolia I. While some time will be spent discussing professional engravers who perfected their skills in order to better reproduce the compositions of others, the second half of the semester will be primarily concerned with the one artist who most advanced virtuoso printmaking in the 16th century, Hendrick Goltzius. This latter part of the course will coincide with the Lawrence venue of the exhibition Goltzius and the Third Dimension organized by the Clark Art Institute with some collaboration from the Spencer Museum of Art.
Topics addressed will include print collecting in the renaissance, humanist praise of printmaking, virtuosity and reproductive printmaking, and the renaissance notion of Paragone (competition among the arts). We will approach virtuosity as a broad concept not limited to notions of technical skill.
Readings for the class will be drawn primarily from the periodical literature and from exhibition catalogue essays.
Dorothy Limouze (St. Lawrence University) will visit the campus to lecture in conjunction with the class and the exhibition. Her research has often concerned the professional engravers who worked in or under the influence of the court of Rudolf II at the Imperial Court in Prague.
PRINT REFERENCE WORKS IN THE FRANKLIN D. MURPHY LIBRARY OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE
LINKS TO PRINT AND RESEARCH RESOURCES
Professor Stephen Goddard
The University of Kansas
Office phone: 864 0128
Office hours:
e-mail Professor Goddard: goddard[at]ku[dot]edu