Bologna has an extraordinary artistic and historical heritage. Aside from its treasure-filled churches, Bologna’s world-renowned Pinacoteca Nazionale is home to some of the greatest Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces in the country, including works by Raphael, Lavinia Fontana, the Carracci brothers, Guido Reni, Guercino, and many others. The E.C.Co. course Renaissance and Early Baroque Art in Bologna: From Vitale da Bologna to Domenichino and Guido Reni takes students out of the classroom and into the churches, palaces, and museums to investigate Bologna’s key role in the art world between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Students wanting to focus on modern art at the University can take courses in Semiotics of Art, Modern European Art, and Museology and Collecting among others. A variety of art exhibits can be found in the “scattered museum” of Genus Bononiae, comprising several recently restored historic buildings in the city center: these include Palazzo Pepoli Vecchio, Biblioteca d’Arte e di Storia di San Giorgio in Poggiale, Complesso di San Colombano, Palazzo Fava, Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vita, Casa Saraceni, Complesso Monumentale di San Michele in Bosco and Chiesa di Santa Cristina – all monuments containing precious works of art, ancient books and other signs of Bologna’s millennial civilization. Lovers of modern and contemporary art will also find a lot to see in Bologna: the studio and museum of the great Bolognese painter Giorgio Morandi, the Mambo (Museo d’Arte Moderna Bologna) and the annual exhibition of contemporary art ArteFiera.