AH4076 Rubens and Rembrandt: Parallel Worlds

Academic year

2023 to 2024 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Module coordinator

Prof J M Luxford

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Professor Julian Luxford

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module examines seventeenth century Netherlandish art with reference to the careers and works of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Rembrandt Harmenzoon van Rijn (1606-69). The contrasting oeuvres of Rubens and Rembrandt - the most important exponents of Baroque painting north of the Alps - will be considered from a thematic rather than chronological point of view. Rubens's religious, mythological, political-allegorical, portrait and landscape works, and Rembrandt's representation of subjects from the Old Testament, the New Testament, mythology and topography, as well as his portraiture (including self-portraiture), will be major foci.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS AH2001 AND PASS AH2002

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 x 2-hour lecture (x 11 weeks); 1 x 1-hour seminar (x 11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

33

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

267

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Recognise key iconographic, stylistic and aesthetic aspects of the oeuvres of Rubens and Rembrandt.
  • Understand the influence of Classical art on Baroque painting.
  • Reason and speak knowledgably about the careers and outputs of two of the most famous artists in European history.
  • Advocate more effectively for the cultural value of art.
  • Analyse with increased confidence works of art that were meant to be visually and semantically complex.
  • Better understand the place of secondary genres like portraiture and landscape in the history of art.