Instructor: Patrick Baliani
Tues/Thurs | 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM | In-Person
Spring 2026
How does art inform and reflect our understanding of the human body? How do art, philosophy, and science converge during different historical periods to shape this understanding? Let's begin with the Renaissance ideal of the human form--more particularly the anatomical studies so crucial to the art of Leonardo da Vinci. How does Leonardo uphold the world view he inherited? How does he challenge it? Leaping well ahead, what revolutions in physics, biology, neurology, philosophy, and other studies transform the body as represented in 20th century modern art? How do studies by Freud, Einstein, and others "reframe" the body? Lastly, how is the millennia old tradition of western painting radicalized by modern and contemporary women painters? This interdisciplinary course will explore particular historical juxtapositions of visual art and anatomy. Students will choose research topics related to their interests for their final papers.