Butte College

Course Outline

2026-2027 Catalog

ARTH C1200 - Survey of Art from the Renaissance to Contemporary

Catalog Description

Transfer Status
CSU/UC
Unit(s)
3.00
  • Lecture: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)
  • Total: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)

Course Description: This course provides an overview of art and architecture from the Renaissance to the contemporary period with a focus on art from Europe. The course will further consider global interactions involving this region. (C-ID ARTH 120).

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

  1. Identify, examine, and assess representative works of art and architecture from the Renaissance to the contemporary period employing appropriate art historical terminology.
  2. Analyze works of art and architecture and critique them in terms of aesthetic, sociopolitical, religious, historical, technological, and cultural contexts in which they were created.
  3. Develop critical thinking, information literacy, and problem solving through an engagement with art, architecture, artists, and patrons from the Renaissance to the contemporary period.

Course Content

Topic Titles / Suggested Time Topic

Lecture

Lecture topics and suggested hours
TopicsLec Hrs

This course critically examines the art and architecture of the following periods with an integration of history, theory, aesthetics, and cross-cultural connections:

    1. Italian Renaissance and Mannerism

    2. Northern Renaissance  

    3. Baroque and Rococo

    4. Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism  

    5. Major movements of the late 19th Century including Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

    6. Introduction to major Modernist movements of the 20th-century

    7. A look towards the future: contemporary global considerations 

    8. Introduction to the discipline of Art History and Connoisseurship

    9. Historical Context: Art before 1300

  10. 15th-Century Flemish 

51.00
Total Hours:51.00

Methods of Instruction

  1. Class Activities
  2. Homework: Students are required to complete two hours of outside-of-class homework for each hour of lecture
  3. Lecture
  4. Reading Assignments

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Methods of evaluation will include:
    1. Written essays and/or research projects
    2. Exam with essay component

    Methods of evaluation may also include:
    1. Discussions
    2. Objective exams
    3. Projects and presentations
    4. Quizzes
    5. Group Assignments
    6. Museum Assignments

    Methods of evaluation are at the discretion of faculty.

Examples of Assignments

Reading Assignments

  1. Read Chapter 13 on 14th Century Italian art, and come to class prepared to discuss the representational innovations of the artists Giotto di Bondone, and Duccio di Buoninsegna.
  2. Read the introduction to Chapter 27 in Jansen's History of Art, on Modern Art, and come to class prepared to discuss aspects of the social context that influenced artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Vasily Kandinsky to push abstraction further than their 19th century predecessors.

Writing Assignments

  1. After becoming familiar with the Old Testament story of "Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac", write a 1-2-page paper describing, comparing, and evaluating two interpretations in bronze of this story by Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti. Which artist deserved to win the prestigious commission for the "Doors of the Florence Baptistery", and why?
  2. Compare and contrast the paintings on the subject of "Judith Slaying Holofernes" done by Artemisia Gentileschi and by Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio). Write a 500-word essay in which you cover the following questions: 1. Which artists' interpretation do you think is most successful in conveying the story? Why? 2. In what ways do the artists use the depiction of this story as a vehicle for self-expression and self-promotion?

Out-of-Class Assignments

  1. Explore the art at a local gallery or museum. Find an artwork of interest to you. Write a 500-word paper in which you describe, interpret, and evaluate the selected artwork. Alternative options to complete this assignment will be identified in the instructions.
  2. Listen to the Charlie Rose interview with V.S. Ramachandran (http://www.charlierose.com/). Come to class prepared to discuss this question: How do Dr. Ramachandran's ideas about the unique properties of the human brain help explain the power of visual imagery to influence and move us emotionally and intellectually?"

Recommended Materials of Instruction

Stokstad, Marilyn. (2025). Art History, Volume 2`. Pearson, 7th. 9780138098377.

Kleiner, Fred S. (2020). Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History, Volume 2. Cengage, 16th. 9781337696609.

Kleiner, Fred S. (2021). Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume 2. Cengage, 16th. 9780357370391.

Janson, H. W. (2019). Janson’s History of Art: The Western Edition. Pearson, 8th. 9780135570142.

Zero Cost Textbook

Kilroy-Ewbank, L. (editor). (2025). Reframing Art History. Smarthistory. (OER). https://smarthistory.org/reframing-art-history/

Gustlin, D. & Gustlin, Z. A World Perspective of Art History. (OER). https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Art/A_World_Perspective_of_Art_History%3A_1400CE_to_the_21st_Century_(Gustlin_and_Gustlin)

Other Learning Materials

These are representative texts. Texts used by individual institutions and individual instructors will vary.

HandoutsArt Resource Center

Met Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

Smarthistory’s (Khan Academy) materials/books

Smarthistory OER Commons

Minimum Qualifications

Art (Masters Required)

Art History