Posted by Becca K.
I’ve been thoroughly spoiled. It was long walks on the Ponte Vecchio, unlimited gelato, homemade pasta, historical buildings and five hundred year old works of art every day for the three weeks I spent in Florence, Italy during intersession. I was taking a Renaissance art history class there along with 13 other girls. The class was led by two professors who are currently in the midst of completing their dissertations in art history here.
I came to Hopkins this year thinking I would take some art history classes and then based upon my experiences with those, possibly consider a major or minor in History of Art. While it’s true that I enjoyed taking Intro to European Art History first semester, the course left me questioning whether or not this was a true passion of mine. I recognized that art history is one of those subjects that is not for the fainthearted—art historians love what they do, and they live and breath studying works of art and their historical contexts. In essence, art history isn’t one of those majors or minors that people tend to pick up on a whim.
Traveling to Italy and taking the art history intersession course changed my perspective entirely. I went from enjoying art and art history, to having a whole new appreciation for it—the trip allowed me to identify (maybe even confirm) where my academic passions lie. I enjoyed the long hours we spent at museums and galleries for class, discussing the history behind works by Raphael, Duccio, Giotto, Caravaggio, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Ghiberti, Pisano, Michelangelo, Titian, Pontormo, Masaccio, Masolino, Brunelleschi, Vasari and the like. It was interesting to compare the works of art we saw and learn about how various artists influenced the styles of their contemporaries. After studying a few of these pieces at the end of my Intro to European Art History class (the class covers just up to medieval and a little bit of early Renaissance art), I found it fascinating to see many of them, previously only available to me as photographs in a textbook, in real life. There was so much more to be gleaned from these works in their actual setting compared to a small textbook photograph. For example, Titian minimally primed his canvases and used loose brush strokes with his oil paint, creating an impressionist style that can only really be seen in person. I discovered that such artistic conventions are only readily apparent if you are interacting personally with a work of art—experiencing it. As cliché as it sounds, I was able to see all of these works literally come to life before my eyes! It’s a hard feeling to describe, but you feel eerily connected to the artist and the people of the time period who once gathered around a particular piece of art when you see it in person. Much of this art was used for liturgical practice, so being in those churches and near those paintings took on a whole other meaning.
In Florence, I was just like the rest of the American tourists—amazed, inspired—completely in awe of the beauty of the Italian people and their culture. Everything about Italy and its art was inspiring—how did these artists learn how to master such painting techniques with few examples preceding them? What piqued their interest in the masterful creations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome? How did they erect such massive buildings (decorated with heavy masonry and imported marbles) with such limited technology available to them? How did they create such elaborate frescoes on soaring ceilings, while still managing to maintain a sense of proportion? Many of these questions were answered as I visited important sites and museums in Italy…many spurred new questions for me. The Renaissance is a fascinating period in history to study.
I was fortunate enough to take a weekend excursion to Rome the first weekend and another trip to Paris the second weekend of our course. In addition to those places, we traveled to Siena as a class (an hour train ride from Florence) and the Loire Valley (two hours outside of Paris, in the French country). In Rome, we saw the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Roman baths at Caracalla, and the Coliseum. I personally appreciated the fact that Rome has impressive art spanning from antiquity to post-Renaissance. I also enjoyed that fact that the city is bursting with life and vibrancy at all almost all hours. It really is a city that never sleeps! Our hotel was at the top of the Spanish Steppes, a prime location in Rome, near some really amazing restaurants (trattorias, pizzerias, you name it!). The shopping was remarkable. My extra suitcase that I was forced to purchase can attest to that all by itself…
I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to study abroad for intersession as a freshman. It was truly an eye-opening experience, and I left Italy not only sad that to be parting from my beloved carbohydrates (YIKES), but delighted to have learned so much over the course of three weeks. I’m back in Baltimore, taking the second half of my Intro to European Art History course, and the material I’ve learned in Florence could not have been more relevant. My Introduction to Museum: Issues and Ideas class has also been so much more interesting now that I have been to just about a billion “museos” and “gallerias” over the past few weeks. I’m going to miss the “bella vita” in Italia, but my bella vita here at Hopkins is just beginning!
Ciao and thanks for reading! -BK
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