Ancient World in Visual Arts

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Course aims:

- to gain knowledge of origins and development of ancient themes in the history of visual arts,

- to gain knowledge of political and social influences on the works of art using antiquity as their main subject,

- to develop the ability of interpretation of the most important works of art based on ancient literature and history,

- to develop research skills in the field of diverse levels of intertextual and cultural relationships: persons, genres, motifs, and selected problems.

General familiarity with antiquity.

Lecture with a multimedia presentation, interactive lecture, discussions, sound and/or video demonstration.

5

Course learning content:

- introduction: definitions and clarifications; "visuality" in antiquity, ancient culture as a subject matter and as a formal source of inspiration in visual arts,

- ancient inspirations in painting from early Christian art to Francis Bacon anc Cy Twombly,

- ancient inspirations in sculpture from early Christian art to Igor Mitoraj,

- antiquity in new visual media: AES+F, Eleanor Antin, Blemobill, NeSpoon…,

- antiquity-inspired fashion, design and applied arts,

- ancient myth and history in graphic novels.

Reading list:

Texts selected by the teaching staff (e.g. A Companion to Classical Receptions. Ed. L. Hardwick, Ch. Stray. Malden 2008; Classics for All: Reworking Antiquity in Mass Culture. Ed. D. Lowe, K. Shahabudin. Newcastle 2009; The Classical Tradition. Ed. A. Grafton, G.W. Most, S. Settis, Cambridge 2010; Classics and comics. Ed. G. Kovacs, C.W. Marshall. Oxford 2011; Son of Classics and Comics. Ed. G. Kovacs, C.W. Marshall. Oxford 2016; A Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome on Screen. Ed. A.J. Pomeroy. Malden 2017; R. Warren, Art Nouveau and the Classical Tradition. London-Oxford-New York 2017).

On successful completion of this course, a student will be able to:

- describe the relations between the antiquity and the visual arts,

- define the role of the works of art about antiquity in social and political life,

- see and evaluate the rules and principles applied in the works of art referring to antiquity,

- see and evaluate the evolution of concepts, attitudes and emotions of the works of art against the background of their times,

- account for the contribution of ancient literature and culture into the formation and development of modern culture.

Grade system:

very good (bdb; 5,0): very good knowledge and understanding of the relationships between ancient literature/culture and visual arts; ability to provide examples; very high skill at critical reading and at evaluating the influence of antiquity, as well as its role in individual works; very good knowledge of relationships of subject matter, ideas and genre obtaining in ancient literature.

good plus (+db; 4,5): as above, except for minor inefficiencies and inaccuracies.

good (db; 4,0): good knowledge and understanding of the relationships between ancient literature/culture and visual arts; ability to provide examples; rather high skill at critical reading and at evaluating the influence of antiquity, as well as its role in individual works; good knowledge of relationships of subject matter, ideas and genre obtaining in ancient literature.

satisfactory plus (+dst; 3,5): satisfactory knowledge and understanding of intertextual relationships between ancient literature/culture and visual arts; ability to provide examples; satisfactory skill at critical reading and at evaluating the influence of antiquity, as well as its role in individual works; satisfactory knowledge of relationships of subject matter, ideas and genre obtaining in ancient literature.

satisfactory (dst; 3,0): basic knowledge and understanding of intertextual relationships between ancient literature/culture and visual arts; ability to provide examples; basic skill at critical reading and at evaluating the influence of antiquity, as well as its role in individual works; basic knowledge of relationships of subject matter, ideas and genre obtaining in ancient literature.

unsatisfactory (ndst; 2,0): unsatisfactory knowledge and understanding of intertextual relationships between ancient literature/culture and visual arts; unsatisfactory skill at critical reading and at evaluating the influence of antiquity, as well as its role in individual works; unsatisfactory knowledge of relationships of subject matter, ideas and genre obtaining in ancient literature.