What power does art have? How can it be used to control, manipulate,
entice, and inspire? This module explores the power of art in one of the
most dynamic periods of European history and artistic production: from
the royal and papal courts of the seventeenth century, through the
Counter-Reformation and the Enlightenment, to the French Revolution at
the end of the eighteenth century. Through the module, we will encounter
iconic sites (Versailles, the Vatican), analyse the works of major
artists (e.g. Caravaggio, Bernini, Gentileschi, Velazquez, Boucher,
Reynolds, David, Kauffmann, Vigée-Lebrun) and think about power in a
range of different discourses (politics, religion, gender, race,
fashion, violence, and the self). This module involves museum visits to look at art in London collections. From the churches of baroque Rome to
race relations in Caribbean colonies, what can art tell us about the
histories of power in early modern Europe?
