Dürer to Bruegel: Northern Renaissance Art c1480-1580

The course is broken down into 10 units over 10 weeks, each requiring approximately 10 hours of study time. The following topics are covered:

Unit 1: Art and Artists

• A word about Germany
• The status of the artist
• The purpose of works of art
• The importance of prints
• Landscape and travel
• Italian influences

Unit 2: Patronage

• Art in the cities
• The Nuremberg Chronicle
• Civic paintings
• Private patronage and civic pride
• The Fugger Chapel

Unit 3: Portraiture

• Humanism
• Hans Memling
• Albrecht Durer
• Hans Holbein the Younger

Unit 4: Private Devotion

• The Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy
• Private devotion in public places
• Holiness

Unit 5: The Materialisation of Faith

• The fabric of the church
• Architecture
• Vaults
• Stained glass
• Altarpieces

Unit 6: The Art of Dying

• Morality and death
• Vanitas
• Memento mori
• Death and resurrection
• Tombs

Unit 7: Prints

• Technique
• Martin Schongauer
• Albrecht Dürer
• Dürer’s Adam and Eve

Unit 8: Beyond Craft

• Individuality
• Italy and the north
• Travel
• Internationalism
• Tapestries

Unit 9: Nature and Human Nature

• Pure landscape
• The German forest
• Fantasy and realism
• Panoramic landscape
• Pieter Bregel the Elder
• Hieronymus Bosch
• Nature and human morality

Unit 10: Art and Reformation

• Veit Stoss
• Monochrome sculpture
• Art and propaganda
• Subject matter

We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral and very rewarding part of the course and the online learning experience.

Course aims

This course aims to introduce students to the:

•  art of the Northern Renaissance (c1480-c1580), its richness, diversity and meaning in terms of its cultural context.
• studying the art of the period thematically with the aid of a core text and other recommended reading and internet links.
• encouraging students, both individually and in group discussion, to analyse works of art and consider the role of art in the society of the day.

This course will:

• introduce students to the concerns (cultural, iconographic and stylistic) of the art of Northern Europe in the period c1480-c1580.
• familiarise students with a range of works of art and artists from the period.
• guide students through the core text, encouraging critical reading of the material.
• enable students to think about, verbalise and discuss with others a range of issues relevant to the art of the period.
• encourage students to develop art history skills.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to understand:

• a range of interests and uses of art in Northern Europe in the specified period.
• the sense in which Northern art was part of ‘the Renaissance’.
• the role of art and of the artist in Northern Europe at this time.
• the way in which different materials and types of art reflect or express attitudes and values attributed to art in Northern Europe in this period.

By the end of this course, students will have gained the ability to:

• evaluate the art of the period according to objective methods.
• identify a range of works of art and artists.
• think about and verbalise their response to a range of art historical issues as they apply to this period.

Level and demands

This course is open to all, and no prior knowledge is required.

This course is offered at FHEQ level 4 (first year undergraduate level), and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but we warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements, please see here.

IT requirements

This course is delivered online; to participate, you must be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first 500-word assignment is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome, but preparing for it and the feedback you are given will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

Dr Manya Pagiavla

Dr Manya Pagiavla is a Lecturer in History of Renaissance Art at the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford. She holds a PhD in history of Renaissance art/architecture. In the past, she taught at the University of Cambridge, the Victoria & Albert Museum and Christie’s Education. A High/Late Renaissance expert, her research is on architectural history in Venice (Serlio, Palladio and D. Barbaro’s Vitruvius), and on the artists’ library inventories/marginalia. Further teaching interests include the Northern Renaissance, the Dutch Golden Age and 19th-century art/architecture. Her latest publication is on the library of Leonardo da Vinci, co-authored with Martin Kemp, University of Oxford. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Staff and Educational Development Association Recognised Teacher.

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online courses are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

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

Textbooks

To participate in the course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following book:

• Smith, Jeffrey Chipps, The Northern Renaissance (Phaidon, London and New York, 2004) ISBN 0714838675.

If you can’t get hold of the above text, you should buy the book listed below, and your tutor will advise you of alternative readings during the course:

• Susie Nash, 2008, Northern Renaissance Art, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Please ensure you can access copies of any required textbooks before enrolling on a course. While cancellations are uncommon, courses may not run if enrolment is too low. The Department accepts no responsibility for books bought in anticipation of a course running.

Module code: O26P605ARV

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