From Leonardo to Steno: Art, science and religion in Tuscany (1500-1700)
25 March- 7 April 2025
Professors: Michael W. Kwakkelstein, PhD (Utrecht University), Eric Jorink, PhD (Leiden University and Huygens Institute, Amsterdam).
Location: The Netherlands University Institute for Art History, Florence (NIKI), www.nikiflorence.org
Credits: 6 ECTS
Each student should arrange with their home university whether the course can be part of the existing curriculum. Upon successful completion of the course, the NIKI will provide a certificate mentioning the study load and grade.
The study load is based on:
• Before arriving in Florence: introductory class in Utrecht (attendance mandatory); knowledge of the texts of the Reader to allow for class discussion: 2 ECTS (56 hours)
• Active participation in seminars, excursions, museum visits in Florence, and presentations: 2 ECTS (56 hours)
• Writing of a research paper (deadline to be confirmed): 2 ECTS (56 hours)
Language: English
E-mail: kwakkelstein@nikiflorence.org & eric.jorink@huygens.knaw.nl
Office hours: after class
Costs:
Course fee: free of charge for students registered at one of the six participating Dutch universities; € 500 (all other students).
Course Description:
In this pioneering course, we will explore previously unexplored territory. How did late-renaissance scientists and artists navigate between biblical and ancient texts, and their own observations? How did they negotiate between received scholarly and pictorial traditions and their own – often conflicting – observations? Taking the flourishing humanistic and artistic culture in Tuscany as our point of departure, we will study the impact of new visual techniques as well as in situ observations of the human anatomy, the contemporary excavations of antique statues and coins, and the troubling findings of fossilia as our point of departure. Starting with Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) we will follow this line to Niels Stensen (Steno; 1638-1686), trained as an anatomist in Leiden and since 1667 employed by the Medici-court. It was Steno who convincingly made sense of shark-teeth found high up in the Florentine mountains and the disturbing layers of rocks observed there – making him the founder of geological stratification. This course seeks to define the relationship these seemingly conflicting enterprises of artists and natural philosophers. The student will be confronted with the current discourses on art, religion and science, and the role of factual evidence and visual representation. Besides gaining insight in the historiographical state of the art in this interdisciplinary field, we will also gain visual and tactile knowledge of the sources under discussion. As the course is explicitly aiming at providing intellectual and physical context (specific buildings and collections; the city; the Tuscan landscape), excursions are a crucial part of the course.
Site-visits (Florence): Natural History Museum ‘La Specola’, Museo Galileo (History of Science), Museum of Geology and Paleontology, the Archeological Museum, Galleria degli Uffizi; Capella Stenoniana, Basillica San Lorenzo.
Target group:
(Prospective) MA-, RMA students and PhD candidates in History, Art History, and related disciplines from the NIKI- NWIB partner universities (UvA, VU, UL, UU, RU and RUG).
Course Objectives
To introduce the student to the overlapping fields of art, religion and science between ca 1500-1700. The student will learn the significance of the pioneering research in various branches of knowledge and will understand how that research relates to writing, drawing and publishing. Emphasis will be placed on the social and intellectual context (the role of religion and patronage, for example). Given the interdisciplinary nature of this course, it is open to students of various disciples. In fact, facilitating a dialogue across different academic disciplines and faculties is one of the course’s objectives. Finally, daily class discussions of the literature in the Reader will aid the student in further developing his or her academic skills.
Course Structure
The course will be a combination of lectures with power point presentation, class discussions of the readings, guided visits on site in museums in Florence and individual study and research (under supervision) in the library of the NIKI. Prior to arrival at the NIKI an introductory class will take place in Utrecht. After the course in Florence has ended, students will receive further guidance during a class meeting that will take place in Utrecht as well as during individual online meetings.
Course material
Will be made available some weeks before the start of the course.
Form of assessment
Attendance and class participation: 20%
Presentation: 30%
Research paper: 50%
Course Requirements
Students will write a research paper (4000 words) with a 20 minutes-presentation at the institute (list of topics and outline term paper will be handed out at the beginning of the course). Your presentation should include: a brief outline of research question, state of research, method of research, sources used, additional questions raised, new insights, bibliography, illustrations. Knowledge should reflect research, readings (Reader), lectures and site visits.
Deadline paper: Monday, June 20th, 2025.
The following research questions are of importance to this course:
- How do ancient texts relate to factual observations? How did religious ideas influence scholarly interpretation?
- What was the role of singular individuals (e.g. Leonardo, Aldrovandi, Redi, Steno) and to what extent were they operating without the support or approval of larger institutions such as universities, the court, the Church, the emerging academies?
- What is the relation between observation, textual description and visual representation?
- How did developments in science (text and illustrations) in Tuscany relate to developments in science in the rest of Europe?
Application and admission
The master class is a selective course with a maximum of 12 participants. The selection of (R)MA students is based on grades, the positioning of the course in the student’s curriculum, and a letter of motivation. The selection of PhD students is based on the letter of motivation and curriculum vitae.
Include in your application:
• a letter of motivation
• a cv
• for (prospective) (R)MA students: a recent list of grades officially provided by your university
Deadline application
15 January 2025. Please note that the decision of the selection committee is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Please send your application to: kwakkelstein@nikiflorence.org & eric.jorink@huygens.knaw.nl
Support
Participating students will receive free tuition, accommodation in Florence and excursions (including most entry fees for museums and archaeological sites).
More information
niki@nikiflorence.org
This course has been organized in collaboration with Leiden University and the Huygens Institute (KNAW), Amsterdam.