This Art History course is directed at lifelong learners of diverse ages and interests, with a strong awareness and curiosity towards art.
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This course is available through the following application route(s)
The Purser-Griffith Lectures in the History of European Painting is an Art History course for lifelong learners of diverse ages and interests, with a strong awareness and curiosity towards art. The part-time evening course is devoted to examining the history of European painting from late Antiquity to the early twentieth century. Students attend the Purser-Griffith Lectures purely for interest and do not undertake any course assessment. Audit students are welcome at any stage in the two-year lecture cycle.
Taught on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings this historic course traces its origins to a 1934 endowment made by the artist Sarah Purser (1848-1943) and her cousin Sir John Griffith (1848-1938) to encourage the study of history of art in Ireland. This endowment led the then UCD president, Denis Coffey, to invite Françoise Henry, eminent scholar of early medieval Irish art, to teach a course in the history of European painting.
The lectures provide a chronological introduction to the major artistic developments and styles and artists in European painting from late Antiquity to the turn of the 20th century, and the chronological survey is partnered with thematic lectures considering a range of topics including: the making of art; artistic status, training and practice; patronage and collecting; women and the art world. Schedule permitting, we endeavour to have at least two gallery visits each year. Subject to student numbers and interest we try to organise an optional study trip to Florence in year 1 of the programme.
About This Course
In YEAR ONE the course covers the period from late Roman antiquity through to Renaissance art of the early 16th century. The Tuesday lectures examine the art of late Antiquity, the early Christian period & the Byzantine Empire through to the stained glass, illuminated manuscripts and great fresco schemes and altarpieces of the Middles Ages. The lectures then consider the early stirrings of the Renaissance, before moving on to explore 15th- and early 16th-century European painting, and the concept of the Renaissance as a period of revival and transformation in Western culture. Developments in society with respect to individual and civic identity, and related changes in artistic practice, status and patronage are also be considered. The Wednesday lectures partner the chronological examination of key artistic developments and styles, with the intention of extending the understanding of European art through an introduction to the formal and critical analysis of art and to the language of attributes, signs and symbols, and a consideration of the main historical techniques and working methods involved in the production of a work of art.
In YEAR TWO the chronological sweep continues its exploration of European art from the late Renaissance through to the turn of the 20th century. The Tuesday lectures trace the history of European painting of the 16th century in Italy, as well as France under François I, Spain under Philip II & Britain under the Tudors, through to the principal developments and artists of the Baroque, the Rococo, the Age of Reason, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The chronological sweep is enriched with a thematic lectures covering such topics as, ‘Collecting and Patronage: princes & prestige’, ‘The portrait: likeness, the ideal, image and posterity’, ‘Women and the art world’, ‘Great Masters of the Baroque’ and ‘The 19th century and the modern’.
Carla Briggs, Director of the Diploma & Purser-Griffith Lectures in the History of European Painting
Email: carla.briggs@ucd.ie. Tel: 01 716 8403
No previous experience in the study of art history is required.
How to Apply
General application route(s) for Irish/UK/EU applicants* for International (non-EU) applicants* to Purser-Griffith Lectures in the History of European Painting (Audit):
| ROWCLASS | Apply to | Application Type | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| showAudience-audienceEU | Z188 Purser-Griffith Lectures in the History of European Painting (Audit) |
Commencing 2024/2025 September | Occasional | Apply |
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