BA History of Art / Course details

This course provides instruction in the theory and practice of connoisseurship, in the close study of style and technique with the aim of identifying authorship. Focused on paintings from the 16th to the 19th century, the discussion will concentrate on the key issues of attribution and dating. By foregrounding the physical object themselves this course will evaluate the oeuvres of artists such as Leonardo, Rembrandt and Canaletto and explores the academic and commercial function of connoisseurship. It will also review the history of connoisseurs and connoisseurship, investigating key figures such Jonathan Richardson and Giovanni Morelli and debating important methodological problems such as judging quality and pecuniary value, science versus sensibility, or the impact of technology on our knowledge and understanding of paintings and their authors.

This course aims to provide students with a theoretical understanding and practical knowledge of connoisseurship. On a theoretical level, its purpose is to make students think critically about the intellectual basis of attribution and dating, and the appropriateness of methodologies designed to answer these questions. From a practical point of view, its goal is identifying, attributing and ascertaining the value of set paintings, as well as differentiating originals from forgeries. Overall, the course aims to prepare students for careers working with old master paintings within commercial and public galleries, private collections and auction houses.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Attribute and date paintings from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century
• Display detailed knowledge of a painting’s style, technique and condition.
• Debate the validity of arguments and evidence employed to support a given painting’s identification.

Topics covered in seminars may include:

1. Issues in Connoisseurship
2. Jonathan Richardson & Son
3. Crowe & Cavalcaselle / Morelli & Lermolieff
4. Technical Art History
5. Leonardo
6. Giorgione
7. Caravaggio
8. Artemisia Gentileschi
9. Rembrandt
10. Canaletto
11. Impressionism

• Weekly three-hour seminar
• Set readings and key images
• Group presentations and class discussion

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Discuss historical examples of connoisseurial writing
• Explain developments in the theory and changes in the practice of connoisseurship.
• Identify the style, technique, period and likely origin of paintings
• Show awareness of the commercial and academic issues affecting attribution

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Evaluate detailed, technical descriptions of a painting’s style and condition

• Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a given attribution.
• Form a structured, sustained and persuasive argument supporting or questioning the identification of a painting.
• Appraise the value and quality of paintings from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Visually assess a painting’s style, technique and condition
• Write detailed technical descriptions a painting’s style and condition
• Explain concisely the basis for, and probability of, a given attribution.
• Consider the impact of market forces and the legal implications of a given attribution. 
• Respond in a critical and informed manner to a class discussion
• Present research and analysis using written and visual means.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Explain and debate attributions in a professional manner.
• Understand commercial and legal conditions of the art market.
• Evaluate a painting’s style, technique and condition.
• Present coherent arguments in written work.
• Manage time effectively in order to complete assignments.
• Present written work professionally and supported by images.

• Written feedback on presentation
• Written feedback on essay
• Additional one-to-one feedback (during consultation hour or by making an appointment)

• Carol Gibson-Wood, Studies in the Theory of Connoisseurship from Vasari to Morelli, New York ; London : Garland, 1988
• Scallen, Catherine B., Rembrandt, Reputation, and the Practice of Connoisseurship, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2004
• Max J. Friedla¿nder, On Art and Connoisseurship, Oxford : Bruno Cassirer, 1946
• Thierry Lenain, Art Forgery: The History of a Modern Obsession, London : Reaktion Books, 2011
• Meager, R., ‘Connoisseurship’, British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 1985
• Melius, Jeremy, ‘Connoisseurship, Painting, and Personhood’, Art History, Apr 2011, Vol.34, pp.288-309
• Carrier, David, ‘In Praise of Connoisseurship’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, May 2003, Vol.61, pp.159-169
• Lugli, Emanuele, ‘Connoisseurship as a System: Reflections on Federico Zeri's “Due dipinti, la filologia e un nome”’, Word & Image, April 2008, Vol.24, p.162-175
• Source: Notes in the History of Art, “Special Issue: Problems in Connoisseurship”, Vol. 24, No. 2, Winter 2005
• David Ebitz, ‘Connoisseurship as Practice’, Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 9, No. 18 (1988), pp. 207-212
• Gary Schwartz, ‘Connoisseurship: The Penalty of Ahistoricism’, Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 9, No. 18 (1988), pp. 201-206
• Hal Opperman, ‘The Thinking Eye, the Mind That Sees: The Art Historian as Connoisseur’, Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 11, No. 21 (1990), pp. 9-13
• Ainsworth, Maryan, ‘From Connoisseurship to Technical Art History: The Evolution of the Interdisciplinary Study of Art’, Conservation: the GCI Newsletter, 2005, Vol.20, pp.4-10