History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh Spring Term 2006

HAA1305/CRN 18184 Tues-Th 9:30--10:45 am

Prof. Franklin Toker Frick Fine Arts Building, room 203

Architecture of the Early Renaissance

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1 A Miraculous Predecessor: Arnolfo di Cambio

January 5

Text: Introduction, pp. 1--6.

Week 2 Precedent

January 10 The Roman legacy

January 12 Historical and cultural background of Italy and Florence

Week 3 Brunelleschi as technician and theorist

January 17 The Cupola of S. Maria del Fiore

January 19 The invention of perspective

Special reading: Franklin Toker: "Gothic Architecture by Remote Control: An Illustrated Building Contract of1340," Art Bulletin 67 (1985):67-95 URL http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3079%28198503%2967%3A1%3C67%3AGABRCA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3

Text: pp. 13--24.

Last class for students to select a building to speak on

Week 4 Brunelleschi's system

January 24 The Innocenti and S. Lorenzo

Special reading: Rudolph Wittkower, "Brunelleschi's Proportion in Perspective," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 16 (1953):275-291 URL http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4390%281953%2916%3A3%2F4%3C275%3ABA%27IP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6

January 26 S. Maria degli Angeli and attributed works

Special reading: Rudolph Wittkower: "The Centrally Planned Church and the Renaissance," in Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, pp. 1--21 and 27--32

Week 5 Brunelleschi's contemporaries and successors

January 31 Who designed the Pazzi Chapel?

Special reading: Marvin Trachtenberg, "Why the Pazzi Chapel is not by Brunelleschi," Casabella 60/635 (June 1996):58--77

February 2 Michelozzo and the Medici Palace; Palazzo Pitti and the Badia at Fiesole

Special reading: Marvin Trachtenberg: "Michelozzo and the Pazzi Chapel," Casabella 61/642 (February 1997):56--75.

Text: pp. 25--33

Week 6 Early Renaissance Architectural Theory

February 7 Alberti and Filarete as theorists

Special reading: John Onians, "Alberti and Filarete: A Study in Their Sources," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 34 (1971):96-114 URL http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4390%281971%2934%3C96%3AAAFASI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P

February 9 Alberti as designer

Deadline for submission of oral presentation prospectus (for class members who have not already spoken)

Special reading: Rudolph Wittkower: "Alberti's Approach to Antiquity in Architecture," in Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, pp. 33--56. Online from Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 4 (1940):1-18 URL http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4390%28194010%2F194101%294%3A1%2F2%3C1%3AAATAIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G

Text: pp. 34--44.

Week 7 Building in Rome and the provinces

February 14 Filarete and architecture in Milan

February 16 Nicholas V, Pius II, and urban projects in Rome

Special reading: John Summerson: "Antithesis of the Quattrocento," in Heavenly Mansions, and Other Essays on Architecture, pp. 29--50.

Text: pp. 55-73.

Week 8 Pienza

February 21 Pienza as city and stage-set

Special reading: Kurt Forster: "The Palazzo Rucellai and Questions of Typology in the Development of Renaissance Buildings," Art Bulletin 58 (1976):l09-113 URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3079%28197603%2958%3A1%3C109%3ATPRAQO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U

February 23 Midterm test

Text: pp. 45--54.

Week 9 Two independent centers: Venice and Urbino

February 28 Venice

March 2 Urbino

Special reading: Rudolph Wittkower: "The Problem of Harmonic Proportion in Architecture," in Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, pp. 101--116

Text: pp. 74-85, 86-101.

Week 10

No classes: University Spring Break March 6 through 10

Week 11 Architecture in a different language: Ferrara and Naples

March 14 Urbino (again) and Ferrara

Special reading: Henry Millon: "Architectural Theory of Francesco di Giorgio," Art Bulletin 40 (1958):257-261 URL http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3079%28195809%2940%3A3%3C257%3ATATOFD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B

March 16 Naples and other provincial centers

Text: pp. 118--125, 126--135

Week 12 Sangallo and the later Quattrocento in Florence

March 21

Special reading: Linda Pellecchia: "Reconstructing the Greek House: Giuliano da Sangallo's Villa for the Medici in Florence," JSAH 52 (1993):323-338 URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-9808%28199309%2952%3A3%3C323%3ARTGHGD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S

March 23

Special reading: Richard Goldthwaite: "The Building of the Strozzi Palace: The Construction Industry in Renaissance Florence," Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 10 (1973)

Text: pp. 137-148

Week 13 Leonardo and Bramante in Milan

March 28 Leonardo in Milan

March 30 Bramante in Milan

Special reading: Wolfgang Lotz: "The Palazzo Ducale in Vigevano: A Princely Forum of the Late Fifteenth Century," in Studies in Italian Renaissance Architecture, pp. 117--139.

Text: pp 102-117

Week 14 Bramante and his influence

April 4 Bramante's works outside Milan

April 6 The Cancelleria in Rome

Text: pp. 70--73

Week 15 Rome at the close of the Quattrocento

April 11

April 13

Week 16 Transition to the Cinquecento

April 18

April 20

Text: pp 148--151

THEME AND OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE

The history of art records many shifts in taste, but none more profound than the Renaissance in Italy. The Early Renaissance (1420-1500) was far more than an art movement: it was a fundamental change in the way mankind saw and thought about the world. In terms of formal analysis, the Renaissance in architecture marks a return to the vocabulary and (in part) the compositional principles of classical architecture, and hence a return to the foundations of western art. The importance of this achievement can hardly be overemphasized, because the return to rationality and modular linkage in building prefigures the emphasis on rationality and scientific method so characteristic of the modern world. In terms of human significance, we are indebted to the Renaissance architects for instilling "self-awareness" in their buildings, parallel to the self-awareness of Renaissance painting, sculpture and philosophy.

This course will review manifestations of the Early Renaissance in the world of politics, letters, the visual arts and urbanism, with concentration on the formation of a new style of architecture. The course will examine the "proto-Renaissance" of 12th-century Tuscany, and important precursor works of the 13th and 14th centuries. Florence will be the main city of focus for the first half of the course, with the scope then widening to Rome, Naples, Venice and Milan, plus such important provincial centers as Urbino and Ferrara. Brunelleschi, Alberti and the young Bramante will be the three main figures studied, but many of the concerns of the course will go beyond this particular movement of the 15th century to ask how art movements in general come into being, and how they change from a first set of objectives into a second one (in this case, the High Renaissance of the 16th century).

COURSE INFORMATION

The course text is Ludwig Heydenreich's Architecture in Italy, 1400-1500 (revision by Paul Davies), on sale at the Book Center. I recommend that you read ahead on the pages marked "Text" in the Course Schedule. The reserve desk holds a score of supplementary texts for the course, and many other relevant books are easily available from Frick, Hillman, and Carnegie libraries.

Grading will be based 30% on your class presentation, 20% for the midterm test, 30% on the final examination, 10% on your discussion of one of the "special readings" (5% in a group orally and 5% written); and 10% on participation in class. By participation is meant not merely regular attendance but asking at least two questions or making two observations in class during the term. Both the midterm and the final will involve analytical skills as well as evidence of thought about the lectures. A strong performance on the final examination and the term paper can improve a weak grade on the mid-term.

This course follows this Department's statement on academic integrity: "Plagiarizing is an act that violates the Student Conduct Code, and will not be tolerated in this class. Plagiarized assignments will result in a failing grade for that assignment." Note that in the world of the Internet, plagiarizing has gotten ever more easy: it is mandatory that the full URL address be given for every website you draw upon for your research.

Explanation of the "special readings": the special readings are all listed in the Course Schedule, and all available on reserve, with many available also online at http://www.jstor.org. The oral discussions will be in groups of three on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition you will pass in your written analysis of a different reading. But that must come in no later than the class in which it is discussed.

Office hours: I am available in my office (balcony of Frick Library reading room) any Tuesday from 4 to 6 pm, or we can arrange other times if you reach me by telephone at 412.648.2419 or by e-mail: ftoker@pitt.edu; I will quickly respond to questions you leave for me there.

KEY BUILDINGS, URBAN DESIGNS, AND THEMES

The following listing gives the main theme of each class or week, and the main buildings or projects that will be discussed. These works will form the basis of the midterm and final examination. Those illustrated in Heydenreich are so indicated in brackets, e.g. [148]. You are responsible for a close and detailed knowledge of the bolded buildings listed below, and also of their designers.

A Miraculous Predecessor: Arnolfo di Cambio

Arnolfo di Cambio, born Colle di Val d'Elsa, near Florence, ca. 1245, died in Florence between 1302 and 1310

Arnolfo: S. Croce, Florence, begun 1294 [partial view & plan, 20, 21]

Arnolfo: duomo of S. Maria del Fiore, Florence, begun 1296; building suspended 1310; enlarged plan 1368-1421 [12]

Giotto: Arena Chapel frescoes, Padua, ca. 1306

Bramante: S. Maria presso S. Satiro, Milan, begun 1478 [108, 109]

Precedent: The Roman legacy and Historical and cultural background of Italy and Florence

Roman Florence or Florentia, founded c. 40-25 BC, first walls.

S. Reparata (Early Christian cathedral, ruins beneath duomo of S. Maria del Fiore), c.500-1296.

Romanesque Florence (11th-12th c); second walls begun 1172.

Baptistery (S. Giovanni): 7th c?, rebuilt 11th c; revetment 12th c.

S. Miniato, Carolingian, rebuilt 11th-12th c; revetment 12th c.

Gothic Florence (13th-14th c); third walls begun 1284.

Amiens, France: Cathedral of Notre-Dame, c.1220-1275.

Nurnberg, Germany: St. Lorenz, 14th c;1439-45; 1472ff.

Bologna: S. Francesco, 1236ff.

Florence: S. Maria Novella, new church 1279ff.

Florence: Palazzo Vecchio (by Arnolfo?), 1299-1310.

Giotto: Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1306.

Giovanni di Agostino: facade elevation, palazzo Sansedoni, Siena, 1340.

Milan: Duomo under various French and German builders, 1390ff.

Florence: Loggia dei Lanzi, 1370s.

Florence: Ospedale di S. Matteo, end 14th c.

Piero della Francesca: Flagellation, 1460s?

Brunelleschi as technician and theorist

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446): Cupola of S. Maria del Fiore, Florence, 1420-36 [13]

Brunelleschi: Lantern for cupola S. Maria del Fiore, 1436 [13 and 17]

Brunelleschi: Exedrae ("Tribune morte") for S. Maria del Fiore, 1438 [13 and 17]

Brunelleschi's experiments in perspective: Baptistery panel ca. 1420

Masaccio, Trinity fresco, c. 1425

Brunelleschi's system

Brunelleschi: Ospedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital), Florence, 1419ff [14, 15]

Brunelleschi: Sacristy, S. Lorenzo, Florence, 1421 [17]

Brunelleschi: S. Lorenzo, 1421 and later [16, 17]

Brunelleschi: S. Spirito, 1436-1470s [17,18]

Brunelleschi: S. Maria degli Angeli, 1434 [24]

Brunelleschi: Palazzo di Parte Guelfa, c. 1425 [24]

Brunelleschi's contemporaries and successors

Disputed authorship: Pazzi chapel at S. Croce, 1442ff [17, 19-21]

Disputed authorship: Palazzo Pitti, Florence, l458ff [47]

Disputed authorship: Badia Fiesolana, Fiesole, outside Florence, 1461ff [46]

Michelozzo di Bartolommeo (1396-1472): Santissima Annunziata, 1444ff [26]

Michelozzo: Medici palace, Florence, 1444ff [27-29]

Michelozzo: convent and library of S. Marco, Florence, 1437ff [25, 26]

Early Renaissance Architectural Theory

Leonbattista Alberti (1404-1472): De Re Aedificatoria, version for Pope Nicholas V, 1452.

Antonio Filarete, Trattato di Architettura, 1461-64.

Alberti: S. Francesco [=Tempio Maletestiano], Rimini, c.1450 [36, 37]

Alberti: Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, 1453? [39]

Alberti: facade of S. Maria Novella, Florence, 1455ff [38]

Alberti: Holy Sepulchre chapel in S. Pancrazio, Florence, c. 1458 [40]

Alberti: S. Sebastiano, Mantua, 1460ff [41]

Alberti: S. Andrea, Mantua, 1470ff [42, 43]

Filarete: Ospedale Maggiore, Milan, 1460ff [105]

Building in Rome, Pienza, and the provinces (many projects listed more securely under papal patron rather than by architect)

Pope Nicholas V (l447-55):

Alberti's project for the Borgo, c. 1450

Alberti/Bernardo Rossellino project for new St. Peter's, c.l450 [35]

Tower and Papal apartments in the Vatican, 1447--55 [56]

Pope Pius II Piccolomini (l458-64):

Benediction loggia at St. Peter's, 1461ff [60]

Alberti and Bernardo Rossellino: rebuilding of Pienza, piazza and Cathedral, 1460-62 [50, 51]

Pope Paul II Barbo (l464-7l):

advanced Rossellino's choir of St. Peter's under Giuliano da Sangallo, l470;

completes Palazzo Venezia, begun l455, expanded 1465 [68, 69]

Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere (l47l-84):

four major streets, a bridge, new power to the magistri de strada for renovation

Sistine Chapel, 1473--81 [66]

Two independent centers: Venice and Urbino

Mauro Codussi: S. Michele in Isola, Venice, l469-79 [91]

Pietro Lombardo: S. Maria de' Miracoli, Venice, l48l-89 [92, 93]

G.A. Amadeo: Colleoni Chapel in cathedral of S.M. Maggiore, Bergamo, l470-73 [108]

Ducal Palace, Urbino, begun c.1450, redesigned l464--66 by Luciano Laurana, continued by Francesco di Giorgio [75--78 and frontispiece]

Francesco di Giorgio Martini: S. Bernardino, Urbino, l482-90 [79]

Francesco di Giorgio: Madonna del Calcinaio, Cortona, l484ff [136--138]

Architecture in a different language: Ferrara and Naples

Biagio Rossetti: expansion of Ferrara in the Addizione Ercole, 1492

Rossetti: San Francesco, Ferrara, l494 [121]

Rossetti: Palazzo dei Diamanti, l493 [123]

Pietro da Milano, Francesco da Laurana: Arch of Alfonso in the Castelnuovo, Naples, l452ff [132]

Giuliano da Maiano: Porta Capuana, Naples, l485 [133]

Giuliano da Maiano: Poggioreale Palace, Naples, begun l487 [133]

Sangallo and the later Quattrocento in Florence

Giuliano da Sangallo (l443-l5l6) notebooks: Cod. Lat. Barb. 4424, l465ff.

Sangallo: Medici Villa, Poggio a Caiano, early l480's [141]

Sangallo: S. Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, Florence, early l490s [142]

Sangallo: Vestibule and sacristy, S. Spirito, Florence, l485 [143]

Giuliano da Sangallo, Benedetto da Maiano, and il Cronaca: Palazzo Strozzi l489ff [143-145]

Sangallo: Design for a palace for the King of Naples, 1490s [145]

Leonardo and Bramante in Milan

Leonardo da Vinci: notebook designs for architecture, 1490s [148, 150]

Donato Bramante (l444-l5l4): S. Maria presso S. Satiro, Milan, l478ff and l482ff [108, 109]

Bramante: S. Maria delle Grazie, l493ff [112]

Bramante: cloisters of S. Ambrogio, Milan, l492-97

Bramante (attribution): Piazza Ducale, Vigevano, 1492

Cristoforo Rocchi (and Bramante?): Cathedral, Pavia, before l490 [110, 11]

Rome at the close of the Quattrocento; Transition to the Cinquecento

Cancelleria Palace, Rome, ca. l485 [70, 72]

Pope Innocent VIII (l484-92) creates the Villa Belvedere in the Vatican

BOOKS ON RESERVE

Alberti, Leon Battista: On the Art of Building in Ten Books (Rykwert edition)

Argan, Giulio Carlo: The Renaissance City

Battisti, Eugenio: Filippo Brunelleschi: The Complete Work

Benevolo, Leonardo: The Architecture of the Renaissance (2 vols.)

Borsi, Franco: Leon Battista Alberti

Bruschi, Arnaldo: Bramante

Burckhardt, Jacob: The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy

Gadol, Joan M. Kelly: Leon Battista Alberti: Universal Man of the Early Renaissance

Goldthwaite, Richard: The Building of Renaissance Florence: An Economic and Social History

Heydenreich, Ludwig: Architecture in Italy, 1400-1500 (revision by Paul Davies); the first half of Heydenreich and Wolfgang Lotz: Architecture in Italy, 1400 to 1600

Kruft, Hanno-Walter: A History of Architectural Theory: From Vitruvius to the Present

Lotz, Wolfgang: Studies in Italian Renaissance Architecture, especially chapter 1, "The Rendering of the Interior in Architectural Drawings of the Renaissance," pp. 1--65

Lowry, Bates: Renaissance Architecture

Millon, Henry, ed., The Renaissance from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo: the representation of architecture

Murray, Peter: The architecture of the Italian Renaissance

Murray, Peter: Renaissance Architecture

Payne, Alina: The Architectural Treatise in the Renaissance

Saalman, Howard: Brunelleschi: Studies in his buildings (2 vols.)

Smith, Christine: Architecture in the cult of early humanism . . . 1400--1470

Summerson, John: Heavenly Mansions, and Other Essays on Architecture

ADDITIONAL RELEVANT BOOKS IN FRICK LIBRARY (mainly reference room)

Blunt, Anthony: Artistic Theory in Italy 1450-1600

Ferguson, Wallace K. et al.: The Renaissance: Six Essays

Frankl, Paul: Principles of Architectural History: The Four Phases of Architectural Style, 1420-1900

Furnari, Michele: Formal Design in Renaissance Architecture: From Brunelleschi to Palladio (at Carnegie)

Gilbert, Creighton: Italian Art, 1400-1500: Sources and Documents

Grafton, Anthony: Leon Battista Alberti : master builder of the Italian Renaissance

Hall, Peter: Cities in civilization: culture, innovation, and urban order

Hartt, Frederick: History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture

Hersey, George: Pythagorean Palaces

The Horizon Book of the Renaissance

Klein, Robert: Italian Art, 1500-1600: Sources and Documents

Jestaz, Bertrand: Architecture of the Renaissance: From Brunelleschi to Palladio (at Carnegie)

King, Ross: Brunelleschi's dome: how a Renaissance genius reinvented architecture

Masson, Georgina: Italian Villas and Palaces

Morris, A. E. J.: History of urban form before the industrial revolutions

Onians, John: Bearers of Meaning: The Classical Orders in Antiquity, The Middle Ages, and the Renaissance

Payne, Alina: Interpreters of Antiquity

Scott, Geoffrey: The Architecture of Humanism: A Study in the History of Taste

Stegmann, Carl: The Architecture of the Renaissance in Tuscany (2 vols).

Trexler, Richard: Public Life in Renaissance Florence

Turner, Harold: From Temple to Meeting House: The Phenomenology and Theology of Places of Worship

Vasari, Giogio: Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (Vasari wrote around 1550, so he knew none of the Early Renaissance architects personally, but his biographic details are still valuable.)

Wittkower, Rudolph: Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, especially "The Centrally Planned Church and the Renaissance," pp. 1-12

Wölfflin, Heinrich: Principles of Art History: The Problem of the Development of Style in Later Art

Wölfflin, Heinrich: Renaissance and Baroque

Zeynep Celik, ed., et al: Streets: critical perspectives on public space

Preparing an excellent class presentation

Rather than writing a paper, you will speak on an Early Renaissance building, project, architect, city, or theme (I refer to these below as 'buildings' for simplicity). I might briefly allude to these "buildings" in earlier or later classes, but I'm not going to revisit them, so it's your responsibility to teach them effectively.

Format, logistics, draft Speak between 5 and 10 minutes (maximum) at the beginning of class on the date assigned. Please create 1-page handouts of a timeline, names of people involved, and brief bibliography, to hand out to every member of class. To illustrate the building, use your own laptop for a PowerPoint presentation (I can link your laptop to the digital projector or we can also just watch it on your laptop screen) OR assign the illustrations to me, in which case we need to meet to discuss what scans I have already, which I'll need, and the order in which you want them. I'll run the scans for you if you wish to avoid that distraction.

Draft: I'd like to receive a "prospectus" outline or full draft text of your presentation no later than February 9 (unless you've already spoken), and I'll respond quickly with some praise or advice.

Contents: discuss four basic questions:

1) description of the building (or other);

2) history of how it came about;

3) analysis of how it works, what decisions the architect took, where it fits in its context, etc.;

4) critique of how successful or unsuccessful the building is.

Effectively, your first paragraph will define what and where your building is, its architect, dates, patron (person or institution paying for it), and particular eminence, whether in function, structure, aesthetics etc. Then take a few paragraphs in which to describe the building. Then, expand for some paragraphs on the "problem" of this building: i.e. what was it about the function, structure, placement, political importance etc. of this building that makes it noteworthy? Then recapitulate its construction history (were there numerous changes in design before or during construction?), and add a short note of any changes post-construction. Finally, the last third of the paper should be an assessment of the accomplishment of this particular building: where does the building stand in the career of its architect? Or in the history of that particular building type? Or in the history of whatever city or state it stands in (or was meant to stand in)? How did it change the course of Early Renaissance architecture, or how might it have changed it? You need to assess success or failure in the building, and specify your criteria.

Research To get these answers, you need to research the building. The Heydenreich text discusses nearly all the buildings you might choose, but you'll need background information. Three valuable volumes, all in the Frick Reference Room (the smaller room behind the Reading Room, with the computers and photocopy machine in it) are the two-volume International dictionary of architects and architecture; the four-volume Macmillan encyclopedia of architects, and the thirty-four volume Dictionary of Art (also on-line under "Grove Dictionary of Art" on www.library.pitt.edu). Ask someone on duty in the library to guide you to them. It's certain that every one of your architects will be listed there, and a very large number of your buildings. Beware, however, of helping yourself too liberally to their contents: I own the first two sets, and constantly turn to the third, so I'll spot plagiarism in about 30 seconds.

Specific to the Renaissance: Enciclopedia dell'Arte Medioevale (9 vols and growing): yes it's in Italian, but lists articles and books in all languages; and it's for the Middle Ages but plenty of Renaissance people got covered too.

--Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art (2 volumes carved out of The Dictionary of Art)

--Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (6 vols): good but spotty in coverage of some architects and not others. Good for "themes," such as the Renaissance revival of antiquity.

--Encyclopedia of World Art--good long articles on main architects.

If your investigation turns up articles, go to www.jstor.org, from which you may be able to get the whole article fast, on-line (for sure if it's from Art Bulletin or Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians). If it's not on-line, check PITTCAT to see if Frick or Hillman carries that journal, and order the relevant volume.

PITTCAT in any case is crucial to your search, since it gives you all books in the university library system. Look up your particular architect or building, but always broaden your search by typing in "Subject Heading = architecture, Renaissance Italy." This will bring up numerous books that will help you refine your search.

Lastly, some more far-reaching databases: PITTCAT is the most important, for all the electronic resources you find there. Go to "databases A to Z" to find a specific database, OR "Databases by subject" and go to "art and architectural history." The five databases most useful to you are: Grove Dictionary of Art (already cited above): Bibliography of the History of Art; Avery Index to Architectural Publications (journals only); Art full text for recent journal entries; art index retrospective, for older entries; and Art bibliographies modern, for both books and journals on topics since about 1850 but also earlier. Many of the databases give summaries of all articles covered, which helps get over hurdle of foreign languages. The website for Frick Library is: www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/frick/fine_arts.html. Go to it, and click at the bottom of the page, on Art History and Architectural History Subject Guide. This will bring you to a full listing of the databases available.

Some miscellaneous sources: Looking for books that you know exist but are not in the University of Pittsburgh system' Then go to library.pitt.edu, and click on 'other libraries'. This will bring you to www.worldcat.com, which tells you which libraries DO have that book. You might get it delivered by inter-library-loan in time. This ALSO works with scholarly journals that UPittsburgh might not have. Inter-library-load can get a computer-based PDF of an article very quickly. RedLightGreen.com also locates books and some articles quickly and accurately. Finally, everybody knows how to use www.google.com, but do you know about www.images.google.com, which can lead you also to both images AND texts about buildings, and www.scholar.google.com, for more scholarly citations? And have you used www.vivisimo.com, which is in some ways superior to google, since it 'bunches' websites into meaningful groups.

Good luck with what should be a fascinating search!

--Frank Toker