Short course
Sensory Wonders: Art of the Renaissance
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
19/05/2027 - 16/06/202710:30 - 12:30
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£190.00
Renaissance art is primarily associated with the development of linear perspective and the rediscovery of antiquity within European contexts. But this was also a period of global multi-sensory exchanges of materials, objects, people, and ideas. This course will explore Renaissance art through the senses, coinciding with the opening of a major exhibition on the subject at the Ashmolean Museum in summer 2027, 'Renaissance Worlds: Art and the Senses', where students will visit for a curatorial tour. The course will highlight global connections within Europe and between Europe and other cultures in order to investigate how new navigational technologies and the ambitions of exploration led to an exponential growth in the exchange of works of art and other crafted artefacts, as well as of materials, technologies, skills, and ideas.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Contact the team
Phone: +44 (0)1865 280900
Course starts Wednesday 19 May 2027
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Wednesdays, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Week 1:Sight & Vision: New Perspectives
Week 2:Taste & Feasting
Week 3: Sacred Scents & a World of Perfume
Week 4: Touch, Textiles & Clothing
Week 5: Music & Collecting the World
*Additional trip to the Ashmolean, guided by Dr Leah R. Clark, one of the curators. Please note: students will have to arrange their own transport for the field trip, and cover the cost of any entry fees.
Course aims
To introduce students to Renaissance art and material culture through the history of the senses, exploring how sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound shaped the production and experience of art in a period characterised by expanding global connections and exchanges.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will have:
- Explored how sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound shaped the production, experience, and interpretation of Renaissance art and material culture.
- Examined how materials, objects, technologies, and artistic practices circulated through expanding networks of trade, travel, diplomacy, and exploration, connecting Europe with cultures across the wider world.
- Developed skills in close visual and material analysis, using sensory approaches to reflect critically on conventional understandings of Renaissance art and its global contexts.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you will:
- Develop your understanding of how sensory experience shaped the production, use, and reception of art and material culture during the Renaissance.
- Recognise how global exchanges of materials, objects, technologies, and ideas transformed Renaissance visual and material culture.
- Practise analysing artworks and objects through close looking and attention to their material and sensory qualities, and relate them to their wider social, cultural, and historical contexts
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at first year undergraduate level.
Teaching methods
Teaching will combine illustrated lectures with discussion, close looking, and object-based learning. Students will be encouraged to consider artworks and artefacts not only as images, but as material and sensory objects that were touched, worn, smelled, heard, tasted, and experienced within particular social settings. Comparative case studies and group discussion will help students explore connections between Renaissance Europe and the wider world, while developing confidence in interpreting unfamiliar objects and materials.
Assessment methods
This course is not accredited, so there are no assessments or coursework.
Dr Joaquin Cruz Lamas
Joaquín Cruz Lamas teaches History of Art at the University of Oxford and has taught Philosophy at King’s College London and Universidad Panamericana, Mexico. He did an MA in Christianity and the Arts at King’s College London and has recently completed a doctorate in Theology and Religious Studies on sacred architecture, Marian devotion, and religious identity in colonial Mexico. His research focuses on the intersections of theology, philosophy, and visual culture, and he is currently developing a project on the devotional practices related to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Digital badge
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be issued with an official digital badge from the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford. In order to be issued with your badge, you will need to have attended at least 80% of the course.
After the course, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to download your digital badge. You will be able to add this badge to your email signature and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course Fee | £190.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All short course students (online and in-person) may register to borrow from the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library, for the duration of their course.
Further information about the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library can be found on the library website.
Preparatory reading
- The Routledge Companion to Global Renaissance Art / Campbell, Stephen J., and Stephanie Porras, eds.
- European Art and the Wider World 1350-1550, Art and Its Global Histories. / Christian, Kathleen, and Leah R. Clark, eds.
- Courtly mediators: Transcultural objects between Renaissance Italy and the Islamic world / Clark, Leah R.
- Renaissance art: a very short introduction / Johnson, Geraldine A.
- Shopping in the Renaissance: Consumer Cultures in Italy 1400–1600 / Welch, Evelyn
Module code: O26P535ARW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.