ARTH 309: Italian Renaissance Art & Architecture

This guide is intended as an introduction to various art history resources available at Cook Library.  Art History is a broad subject area, full of things to explore and examine.  Naturally, it would be impossible for this guide to list every journal, every monograph, and every artistic movement throughout history. Instead, this guide can act as an effective introduction to the use of the library as an aide to developing your critical research skills. It’s up to you to bring your curiosity into the process.

You may want to:

• Explore the background of an artist or movement

• Review the scholarly literature (find peer-reviewed articles)

• Find high-quality and open access images to use for your assignments

• Get guidance on how to cite sources using the Chicago Manual of Style

Keyword searches are a good way to start, but subject searches can be more specific. To execute a subject search, choose "subject" from the drop-down menu in the catalog or a database. The Fashion Institute of Technology's Subject Guide for Art History & Fine Arts lists hundreds of subject terms appropriate for art historical research.

Subjects for Italian Renaissance art history include:

• Art, Renaissance or Arts, Renaissance
• Renaissance -- Italy
• Medici House of
• Sixteenth century
• Fifteenth century

Specific media are also good subject words: painting, sculpture, altarpieces, bronze

When researching a work of art, try to begin with the website of the museum or institution that owns the work if possible. The musuem or institution can often provide important background information that will help you as you go deeper into the research. If researching an architectural work like a church, try to begin with the website of the entity that owns the site or a foundation dedicated to preserving the site. 

Contextualize the work: 

• Look for other works by the artist or architect; and/or
• Look for works by other artists or architects made during the same time or place; and/or
• Look for other works on the same subject. 

In addition to using museum websites, you can use a database like ARTstor to find high resolution images of the work, other works by the artist or architect, other works made during the same time and place, and other works on the same subject.