The Great Religious Paintings of the Western World

The rise of Christianity in the West brought new energy to the creation of visual art, especially in Europe. This rebirth of artistic energy, which we now call the Renaissance, gave the world the paintings of Giotto, Bellini, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian along with dozens of others. Many art historians would say these are the greatest of all painters. In this course we shall study these painters and give ourselves the opportunity to appreciate and understand the greatest of all paintings, which provide the foundation for all studies of Western painting.