Have you ever wondered why Florence, Italy was the epicenter of Renaissance painting? How tempera, oil painting, and frescoes differ? Why are there so many Madonna’s? Who is Masaccio? Uccello? Della Francesca? Ghirlandaio? Moving chronologically from proto-Renaissance through early-Renaissance, we will explore the painters who contributed to the development of the Italian Renaissance style, who influenced them and whom they influenced.

We will discuss how humanism, perspective, the human form, and drawing contributed to the style of Renaissance painting. While the Renaissance style was found all over Italy, this course will focus on Florentine or Tuscan Renaissance painting though not exclusively.

Format: Each participant is requested, for one hour, to present and lead a discussion, choosing from a coordinator supplied list of painters and one of his paintings. The list will be in chronological order.

Resources/Expenses: There is no textbook but participants may be asked to read PDF documents supplied by the coordinator and/or watch videos specified by the coordinator. The library system has many books on the topic plus the coordinator will help with research sources: websites, museums, etc.