Art and Power in the Eighteenth Century

This subject examines the visual culture of Europe, Asia and the Americas in the long eighteenth century (1660–1815), from the reign of Louis XIV of France to the end of the Napoleonic wars. We will consider several significant centres of power in France, England, China, Anatolia, Mexico and the Holy Roman Empire to study how powerful political, religious, social and cultural factors shaped changes in the production, patronage and reception of images, objects and buildings. Through close study of artworks in local and international collections – including furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, prints and paintings – we will explore how artworks were deployed in the construction of social identity and the projection of power in the courts and cities of the eighteenth-century world.

分析十八世纪艺术如何反��和影响权力结构。

• 1Analyse the visual and material characteristics of an eighteenth-century artwork and relate this to the social context of its production
• 2Explain the contexts in which 18th century art was produced across Europe in many centres
• 3Employ critical and analytical skills appropriate to the study of the art of European eighteenth-century art
• 4Compare different centres of power in France, England, Italy and the Holy Roman Empire and explain how powerful political, religious, social and cultural factors shaped changes in the production, patronage and reception of images, objects and buildings
• 5Discuss how European contact with cultures around the globe led to a fascination with the foreign other that indelibly shaped European visual culture at this time
• 6Examine artworks in local collections – including paintings, prints, furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork and textiles – and argue how these objects were deployed in the construction of social identity in the courts and cities of eighteenth-century Europe.