Program Overview

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HISTORY OF ART CRITICISM

Course Details

• CODE: 65061
• ACADEMIC YEAR: 2025/2026
• CREDITS: 6 cfu anno 2 STORIA DELL'ARTE E VALORIZZAZ. PATRIMONIO ARTISTICO 8467 (LM-89) - GENOVA
• SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR: L-ART/04
• LANGUAGE: Italian
• TEACHING LOCATION: GENOVA
• SEMESTER: 1° Semester
• TEACHING MATERIALS: AULAWEB

OVERVIEW

The course aims to offer a rich and accurate overview of the discussions related to the world of art and artists in the modern age, with a focus on the centuries between the 19th and 21st centuries. Alongside the affirmation of the teaching of art history as a discipline within the academic and university worlds, with a particular focus on the Italian context, the lectures of the coming academic year will examine the peculiarities of the school of Aby Warburg, with particular attention to the figure of Erwin Panofsky.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching aims to offer an overview of discussions related to the world of art and artists in the modern age, with particular attention to the period between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with a summary of discussions on the arts, with a focus on those of the modern period (18th-20th centuries), as well as to illustrate and discuss the sources used by scholars as material for their writings. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which the teaching of art criticism has gradually changed, particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries.

PREREQUISITES

As the course will cover the historical period from the 19th to the 21st century, it is highly recommended to have taken and passed the Art Literature course.

TEACHING METHODS

Classes are held in presence. Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course programme includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

• The tools of art-historical research: sources, archival documentation, figurative documentation and related historiography.
• The history of art historiography from Luigi Lanzi to the 20th century.
• The school of Aby Warburg and especially the figure of Erwin Panofsky.
• Paths of art-historical research with special focus on questions of periodisation, definition of styles, examination of production processes, circulation of artefacts and collecting.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

• L. Venturi, Storia della critica d'arte , Turin, Einaudi, 2000;
• La storia delle storie dell'arte , edited by O. Rossi Pinelli, Turin, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, 2014;
• G.C. Sciolla, La critica d'arte del Novecento , Turin, Utet, 1995.
• E. Panofsky, Renaissance and renascences in Western art , New York, Harper & Row, 1972 (or other edition).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

• ELIANA CARRARA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes will begin on 22 September 2025 (3:005:00 p.m., Classroom G).

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examinations will be conducted orally.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The assessment will take the form of an oral examination that will test:

• knowledge and understanding of the bibliography;
• the ability to make connections between the topics covered;
• critical and personal reflection skills.

Exam schedule

• 18/12/2025 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale
• 16/01/2026 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale
• 06/02/2026 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale
• 12/06/2026 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale
• 25/06/2026 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale
• 16/07/2026 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale
• 11/09/2026 | 10:30 | GENOVA | Orale

FURTHER INFORMATION

The examinations will take place in the teacher's office (Via Balbi 4, 3rd floor). An intermediate written exam is foreseen, which will focus on the topics dealt with in the first part of the Course and will allow - if passed with a mark equal to or higher than 24/30 - to reduce the number of texts to be brought to the exam.