Northern Renaissance Art in Brussels and Paris

This course familiarizes students with artistic events in the Netherlands and northern France during the 15th and 16th centuries. The emphasis is on painting, but students also study architecture, sculpture, and tapestry. The relationship between the development of bourgeois communal society and Northern Realism also will be explored, as well as the artistic exchanges and influences between Italy and the North. While staying in the region of Flanders, students will visit the Musées Royaux, the Museum of Ancient Art, the Royal Library, and Institute for Restoration in Brussels; the National Library, Louvre, and Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris. There will also be day trips to Bruges, Gent, and Antwerp. Topics to be covered include:

• Precursors: The historical and artistic background
  Reality and symbol in early Dutch art
• The Pioneers: Flémalle, van Eyck, van der Weyden
• The second generation: Bouts, van Gent, van der Goes, Memlinc, and David
• Bosch and the problem of Millennialism: Sculpture and architecture
• Manuscripts and tapestries: Painting in northern France
• A brief look at painting in Germany: Dürer, Grünwald, and Altdorfer
• A new Flemish generation: Metsys and Patinir, the Flemish Mannerists
• Breugel: The status of the artist in the North

Instructor: Ms. Linda O’Brien-DeHeusch

Requirements

ARTH 198F - Students must attend all lectures and field trips (by bus), keep a journal, and take a final examination before the end of the course. This course is open to all students who have successfully completed at least nine hours of university study.

ARTH 489F - In addition to the lower-level requirements, upper-level students will write a thesis paper of five to eight typewritten pages due two weeks after the course ends.

This Field Study course is applicable to an upper- or lower-level course for art history, humanities or elective credit.

Registration

Tuition for a three-semester-hour course must be paid to the Maryland field representative at your education center. Tuition Assistance and Financial Aid are applicable toward tuition.

Textbooks

Textbooks will be sent to the field representative in the education center where the student has registered for the course. The textbook will cost approximately $110. Textbooks and prices are subject to change; field representatives should contact the Field Study Office at the time of registration to confirm details. The textbook is:

James Snyder: Northern Renaissance Art

Accommodations and Transportation

Students pay the hotel in Brussels directly. The fee for bus trips, train trips, and museum entrance fees is $250. A $100 down payment is due with registration; the balance is due by the registration deadline. If the course is cancelled by UMUC Europe, payments will be refunded in full. Students with any questions concerning accommodations are requested to contact the instructor by email: l.obrien@tin.it.

Transportation to and from Brussels and meals are the responsibility of the student.

Schedule

First class meeting: 1200 hours Saturday, 15 March at the hotel in Brussels: Hotel TBA.

Final class meeting: Saturday, 22 March, ending at 1400 hours.

Important!
Before completing travel plans, it is the student's responsibility to verify with the field representative that the course will be offered on the dates indicated. A fee of $100 will be charged to students who cancel from the Field Study course after the registration deadline.

•••• Registration Deadline: 29 February 2008 ••••

On related pages: Sample Syllabus  |  Field Study Home  |  Field Study FAQ

Last updated: 14 March 2008