| CODE | ART1027 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | The Visual Culture of the Central Mediterranean: Malta and Sicily in the 17th and 18th Century | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Art and Art History | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit analyses the image-making traditions of Malta and Sicily during the 17th and 18th centuries from a visual culture point of view. It especially takes the texts of Michael Baxandall and Svetlana Alpers as a means to establishing a methodology and encourages students to think and research possible cultural sources that could have impacted the Maltese visual traditions. These could range from strong visual path-finders, to other possible events that could have still played an influential role: public executions; Good Friday processions; and the setting up of the Cappella Adrente. The possibilities of textual sources impacting visual traditions will be explored. Above everything else the meaning of images from both the side of the producer as much as that of the consumer will be analysed. Workshops wherein students will investigate all these research questions and possibilities will be organised. Study-Unit Aims: The aim of this study-unit is to encourage students to explore Malta's image-making 17th- and 18th-century traditions from a Visual Culture perspective. Visual Culture as a research methodology will be at the heart of this study-unit, and the research questions explored will be in line with the many possibilities embraced by this particular method. These could range from visual to non-visual sources. Images will be explored from both a producer and a consumer point of view. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Define the term Visual Culture; - Analyse images from a Visual Culture perspective; - Discuss the possibilities and parameters of Visual Culture as an independent discipline or as an academic sub-field; - Explore the Maltese 17th- and 18th-century visual tradition using Visual Culture methodologies. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Use the methodology/ies of Visual Culture when analysing a particular image or set of images; - Discuss in an erudite and learned manner the links between image and culture; - Aim for new argumentative possibilities when discussing imagery. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in 15th Century Italy, Oxford University Press, 1972. - Michael Baxandall, The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany, Yale University Press, 1980. - Michael Baxandall, Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, Yale University Press, 1985. - Michael Baxandall, Tiepolo and the Pictorial Intelligence (with Svetlana Alpers), Yale University Press, 1994. - Michael Baxandall, Shadows and Enlightenment, Yale University Press, 1995. - Nicholas Mirzoeff, An Introduction to Visual Culture, Routledge, 1999. - John Berger, Ways of Seeing, BBC, 1972. Supplementary Readings: - William Zammit, L-Istorja ta' l-istampar f'Malta, Malta, 2006. - Keith Sciberras, Baroque Painting in Malta, Midsea, 2009. - Frans Ciappara, Society and the Inquisition in early modern Malta, PEG, 2001. - William Zammit, Kissing the Gallows: a cultural history of crime, torture and punishment in Malta, 1600-1798, BDL, 2016. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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