This course will examine the major trends in painting and sculpture between the end of the Baroque age and the beginning of Modernism, an era characterized by philosophical Enlightenment, political revo lution, and scientific discovery. The art of this turbulent period was often in conflict with tradition and the established structures of artistic training, production and patronage; much of our contemporary understanding of the nature and role of artists and their work was formed in the crucible of this fascinating period. The dramatically shifting styles of this century of art history will offer us rich opportunities to develop our tools of formal, descriptive analysis, and to articulate the connections between visual styles and the cultural conflicts which produce them.
