Exploring pictorial art from Ancient Greece to Renaissance Europe
Howard Hall Professor of Philosophy Jeffrey Hoover
Delve into the shifting aesthetic philosophies of pictorial art with Howard Hall Professor of Philosophy Jeffrey Hoover. This Thursday Forum series begins in Ancient Greece with the study of Plato and Pythagoras who located beauty in ideal form.
The second session includes the exploration of religious icons, focusing on the Byzantine tradition. Next, the forum examines aspects of religious art in late medieval Italy and how Italian artists recovered the use of pathos and movement — incorporating aspects of Byzantine iconography while reviving the religious pictorial tradition.
The series concludes with depictions of natural spaces and the lifelike tableaus apparent in the works of Renaissance figures like Brunelleschi, Alberti and Leonardo.
Thursday Forum lectures are held in Kesler Lecture Hall in Hickok Hall on the Coe campus. Each session begins with coffee and pastries from 8:45-9:15 a.m., followed by the class until 11:30 a.m. Each series concludes with an optional luncheon on the final Thursday. Admission is $35 for a four-week course or $12 per week. Visit www.coe.edu/thursday-forum to register.
For the remainder of the 2018-2019 academic year, the Thursday Forum schedule includes:
- From Icon to Virtual Space: Shifting Understandings of Pictorial Beauty from the Ancients to the Renaissance — Nov. 1, 8, 15 and 29
- Reviving the Plays of Early 20th Century Black Women Playwrights — Dec. 6
- A New European State? Catalonia Past and Present — Jan. 17 and 24
- Women in the Hebrew Bible — Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28
- Urbanism to Save Us All: How Cities are Reshaping our Social and Physical Lives — March 7, 14, 21 and 28
- The Count, The Duke, The King and Glenn: Music of the Big Band and Swing Era — April 4, 11, 18 and 25
Coe values its location and relationship with the Cedar Rapids community and looks forward to providing insightful forum topics. Established in 1851, Coe has a national reputation for academic excellence enhanced by a student-centered, highly supportive campus environment. Our success in offering superb academics and exciting co-curricular activities stems in large part from our location in a thriving urban setting that promotes student growth and success. As such, we welcome the community to participate in this event.