Programmes - Faculty of Humanities, fourth year of the undergraduate course

For the preparation of candidates for the admission tests, the following indications should be taken into account.

• Italian literature
• Latin
• Greek
• History
• Art history
• Philosophy
• Archaeology
• Ancient history

Italian literature

For both the written and the oral tests, candidates must demonstrate a university-level depth of analysis and reflection. In addition, they are advised to read at least six classic texts of Italian literature and at least four critical essays taken from the lists here below.

Classic texts:

• Dante, Vita nova
• Petrarch, Canzoniere
• Boccaccio, Decameron
• Poliziano, Stanze per la giostra
• Machiavelli, Il Principe o La mandragola
• Ariosto, Orlando furioso (selection of cantos) o Satire
• Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata (selection of cantos)
• Galileo, Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo
• Goldoni, La locandiera or another comedy of the candidate's choice
• Parini, Il giorno or Le odi
• Alfieri, Vita
• Foscolo, Le ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis o Dei Sepolcri
• Leopardi, Canti or Operette morali
• Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi
• Verga, I Malavoglia
• D'Annunzio, Il piacere or Alcyone
• Pascoli, Myricae or I canti di Castelvecchio
• Svevo, La coscienza di Zeno
• Pirandello, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore or Il fu Mattia Pascal
• Saba, Antologia del «Canzoniere»
• Ungaretti, Allegria di naufragi
• Montale, Occasioni
• P. Levi, Se questo è un uomo
• Morante, L’isola di Arturo
• Moravia, Gli indifferenti
• Calvino, La trilogia degli antenati

Critical essays:

• E. Auerbach, Mimesis, Einaudi 1956 (only: first part, chapters I, II, VIII, IX and  second part, chapters IV, VIII, X)
• F. Bausi, Leggere il Decameron, Il Mulino 2017
• L. Blasucci, I tempi dei Canti, Einaudi 1996
• G. Contini, Filologia, Il Mulino 2014
• G. Contini, Un’idea di Dante, Einaudi 1970 (only Dante come personaggio-poeta della Commedia, pp. 33-62 of the 2001 edition)
• G. Contini, Varianti e altra linguistica, Einaudi 1970
• G. Debenedetti, Il romanzo del Novecento, La nave di Teseo 2019
• C. Dionisotti, Geografia e storia della letteratura italiana, Einaudi 1967
• G. Folena, L'italiano in Europa, Einaudi 1983 (only the chapter on Goldoni)
• D. Isella, I lombardi in rivolta, Einaudi 1984 (only Foscolo e l'eredità di Parini, pp. 79-102)
• G. Mazzacurati, Pirandello nel romanzo europeo, Il Mulino 1995
• P.V. Mengaldo, La tradizione del Novecento. Prima serie, Bollati-Boringhieri 1996 (only Da D'Annunzio a Montale, pp. 15-115)
• M. Santagata, I frammenti dell’anima, Il Mulino 1992
• A. Stussi, Breve avviamento alla filologia italiana, Il Mulino 2002

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Latin

The written test will consist of the translation into Italian (or into one of the other modern languages specified in the call) of a passage taken from a Latin literary text. The passage proposed will present a degree of complexity commensurate with the best university-level knowledge. The capacity for lexical, morphological and syntactical interpretation will be assessed. The assessment will be  based on the number and type of errors. For the preparation of the written test,  the  "Translations" from former years should be consulted.

For the oral test, in addition to the competences and knowledge indicated for the first-year test, also required are university-level language, literature, philology and metric competences, as well as the capacity to use, on the basis of the study course completed, the research tools and methodologies most appropriate for identifying and tackling the various interpretative problems posed by Latin literature.

The reading of at least three of the following works of critical literature is recommended:

• A. Barchiesi, Il poeta e il principe: Ovidio e il discorso augusteo, Laterza 1994
• P. Chiesa, Elementi di critica testuale, Il Mulino 2003
• M. Citroni, Poesia e lettori in Roma antica: forme della comunicazione letteraria, Laterza 1995
• G.B. Conte, Memoria dei poeti e sistema letterario: Catullo, Virgilio, Ovidio, Lucano, Einaudi 1974 (2nd ed.1985)
• G.B. Conte, Virgilio: l’epica del sentimento, Einaudi 2002
• R. Heinze, La tecnica epica di Virgilio, Italian translation Il Mulino 1996
• E.J. Kenney, Testo e metodo: aspetti dell'edizione dei classici latini e greci nell'età del libro a stampa, GEI 1995
• M. Labate, L’arte di farsi amare: modelli culturali e progetto didascalico nell’elegia ovidiana, Giardini 1984
• A. La Penna, Orazio e l’ideologia del principato, Einaudi 1963
• A. La Penna, Sallustio e la “rivoluzione” romana, Feltrinelli 1968
• La Lingua poetica latina, edited by A. Lunelli, Pàtron 1974
• P. Maas, Critica del testo, Italian translation Le Monnier 1972
• S. Mariotti, Lezioni su Ennio, Quattroventi 1991
• E. Narducci, Lucano: un’epica contro l’Impero: interpretazione della Pharsalia, Laterza 2002
• G. Pasquali, Orazio lirico, Le Monnier 1920
• A. Traina, Lo stile drammatico del filosofo Seneca, Pàtron 1987
• A. Traina, Vortit barbare. Le traduzioni poetiche da Livio Andronico a Cicerone, Edizioni dell’Ateneo 1974

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Greek

The written test will consist of the translation into Italian (or into one of the other modern languages specified in the call) of a passage taken from an ancient Greek literary text. The passage proposed will present a degree of complexity commensurate with the best university-level knowledge. The capacity for lexical, morphological and syntactical interpretation will be assessed. The assessment will be based on the number and type  of errors. For the preparation of the written test, the  "Translations" from former years should be consulted.

For the oral test, in addition to the competences and knowledge indicated for the first-year test, also required are university-level competences in Greek language, literature, philology and metrics, as well as the capacity to use, on the basis of the study course completed, the research methodologies and tools most appropriate for identifying and tackling the various interpretative problems posed by Greek literature.

The reading of at least three of the following works of critical literature is recommended (one for each group):

Metrics and linguistics:

• A.C. Cassio, Storia delle lingue letterarie greche, Le Monnier 2016 (introduction and one chapter of the candidate's choice)
• P. Maas, Metrica greca, translation and updates by A. Ghiselli, Le Monnier 1979
• M.C. Martinelli, Gli strumenti del poeta. Elementi di metrica greca, Cappelli 1997 (prosody and two chapters of the candidate's choice)
• B. Snell, Metrica greca, La nuova Italia 1997

Philology and textual traditions:

• P. Maas, La critica del testo, translation by G. Ziffer, Edizioni di storia e letteratura 2017
• G. Pasquali, Storia della tradizione e critica del testo, Le Monnier 1952 (introduction and two chapters of the candidate's choice)
• R. Pfeiffer, Storia della filologia classica. Dalle origini alla fine dell'età ellenistica, Macchiaroli 1973
• L.D. Reynolds, N.G. Wilson, Copisti e filologi. La tradizione dei classici dall'antichità ai tempi moderni, traduzione di M. Ferrari, with a preface by G. Billanovich, Antenore 2016 (sections on Greek litterature)
• S. Timpanaro, La genesi del metodo del Lachmann, with a presentation and an annotation  by E. Montanari, Utet 2003

Literary theory:

• S. Brugnolo, D. Colussi, S. Zatti, E. Zinato, La scrittura e il mondo. Teorie letterarie del Novecento, Carocci 2016 (three chapters of the candidate's choice)
• J. Culler, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press 2011

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History

The written test will consist of the writing of a historical essay on one of the questions proposed by the commission. The questions, which may cover, on both a European and a non-European scale, the entire chronological span from the fall of the Western Roman Empire up to the present day, will present a degree of complexity commensurate with the best university-level knowledge. Linguistic competence and lexical properties will also be assessed. To this end, consultation of the past text papers is advisable.

The oral test will be aimed at assessing the candidates' level of knowledge of the events and chronological frameworks of medieval, modern and contemporary history, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire up to the present day, on both a European and a non-European scale, and the main historiographical problems. The test is designed to assess not only the candidates' possession of notions and information but above all their capacity to tackle, with the guidance of the commission, individual problems of a historical and historiographical nature. Candidates' capacity to collocate images and historical documents in their context will also be assessed.

For the study of medieval history, the following text is recommended:

• Storia medievale, edited by L. Provero e M. Vallerani, Le Monnier 2022 (2nd ed.)

For the study of modern history, the following text is recommended:

• F. Benigno, L’età moderna, Laterza 2005 (or subsequent reprints)

For the study of contemporary history,  the following texts are recommended:

• G. Sabbatucci, V. Vidotto, Storia contemporanea. L’Ottocento, Laterza 2018
• G. Sabbatucci, V. Vidotto, Storia contemporanea. Dalla Grande Guerra ad oggi, Laterza 2019

The reading in its entirety of at least one of the following works will be assessed (reference may be made to any edition):

• M. de Certeau, La scrittura della storia, Jaka Book
• P. Veyne. I greci hanno creduto ai loro miti?, Il Mulino
• H. White, Forme di storia. Dalla realtà alla narrazione, edited by E. Tortarolo, Carocci

Also assessed will be the reading in their entirety of at least three of the works listed below, chosen from different groups (reference may be made to any edition), and the candidate's capacity to collocate the author in his or her historical and historiographical context.

The Middle Ages:

• M. Bloch, La società feudale, Einaudi
• P. Cammarosano, Italia medievale. Struttura e geografia delle fonti scritte, Carocci
• E. Kantorowicz, I due corpi del re, Einaudi
• G. Ostrogorsky, Storia dell'Impero bizantino, Einaudi
• W. Pohl, Le origini etniche dell'Europa. Barbari e Romani tra antichità e medioevo, Viella
• C. Wickham, Le società dell'alto Medioevo. Europa e Mediterraneo secoli V-VIII, Viella

The Modern Age:

• D. Cantimori, Eretici italiani del Cinquecento e altri studi, Einaudi
• R. Darnton, I censori all'opera. Come gli stati hanno plasmato la letteratura, Adelphi
• P. Hazard, La crisi della coscienza europea, Utet
• S. Nadler, Baruch Spinoza e l'Olanda del Seicento, Einaudi
• P. Prodi, Una storia della giustizia. Dal pluralismo dei fori al moderno conflitto tra coscienza e diritto, Il Mulino
• A. Prosperi, Tribunali della coscienza. Inquisitori, confessori, missionari, Einaudi
• T. Todorov, La conquista dell’America, Einaudi

The Contemporary Age:

• V. De Grazia, Consenso e cultura di massa nell’Italia fascista, Laterza
• E. Foner, Storia della libertà americana, Donzelli
• I. Kershaw, Hitler e l’enigma del consenso, Laterza
• T. Judt, Post War. La nostra storia (1945-2005), Laterza
• K. Polanyi, La grande trasformazione. Le origini economiche e politiche della nostra epoca, Einaudi
• O.A. Westad, La guerra fredda globale, Il Saggiatore

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Art history

Both the written and the oral tests aim to test candidates' capacity for placing the artistic testimonies in relation to their historical and cultural contexts, and their interest in the reading of individual monumental and figurative documents that have a particular formal expressiveness and have been handed down to us by means of complex events: collecting, restoration, musealisation, etc.
In view of the latter aim, it is advisable to undertake a direct and thorough viewing of many artworks, in their original environment or inside museums and exhibitions (obviously, no merit will be attributed for the choice in itself). During these inspections, It is advisable to annotate observations and curiosities that may potentially be taken further through historical-critical readings. For these “field” investigations, a useful aid is the series of so-called ‘red guides’ of the Touring Club Italiano: albeit by now largely replaced by the multitude of web pages, they still guarantee, each in its own right, an efficacious overall view of the artistic heritage of our country in its quantity and its distribution over the territory.

The written test will consist of a single composition answering a question chosen from among three or four proposed by the commission, with or without the aid of a selection of images (depending on the question chosen). Candidates' critical, expressive and argumentative capacity will also be assessed, together with the correctness and pertinence of the notions utilised. The assessment method will be the same as that of the test for the first year; however, the expectations of the Commission will naturally be keyed to the more advanced level of the study course. Consultation of the past text papers is advisable. 

The oral test will be based on the written test, which will be submitted to further comments and possible in-depth observations. The rest of the oral test will consist of the reading and interpretation of some photos of artworks of various types, chronology and  geography proposed by the commission, and the discussion of historiographical and methodological questions variously linked to the topics emerging in the meantime. Candidates' critical, expressive and argumentative capacity will also be assessed, together with the correctness and pertinence of the notions utilised. 

Here below is a list of classics of artistic historiography of the last century, a good number of which you are strongly advised to read.

Questions of method:

• F. Antal, Classicismo e Romanticismo, Einaudi 1975, pp. 204-221
• E. Castelnuovo, Di cosa parliamo quando parliamo di storia dell’arte?, in Id., La cattedrale tascabile, Sillabe 2000, pp. 69-84
• E. Castelnuovo, Arte, industria, rivoluzioni, Einaudi 1985
• H. Focillon, La vita delle forme, Einaudi 1990
• G. Kubler, La forma del tempo, Einaudi 1976
• O. Pächt, Metodo e prassi nella storia dell’arte, Bollati Boringhieri 1994
• E. Panofsky, La storia dell’arte come disciplina umanistica, in Id., Il significato nelle arti visive, Einaudi 1996, pp. 3-28
• M. Schapiro, Stile, Donzelli 1995
• E. Wind, Arte e anarchia, Adelphi 1986

Wider readings on the Middle Ages and the Modern Age:

• La scultura raccontata da Rudolf Wittkower. Dall’antichità al Novecento [1977], Einaudi 1985
• E. Kris, O. Kurz, Die Legende vom Künstler, Krystall Verlag 1934 (in one of the re-editions in Italian, up to the most recent: La leggenda dell’artista: un saggio storico, with a presentation by E. Castelnuovo, preface by E.H. Gombrich, Bollati Boringhieri 2013)
• G. Previtali, La fortuna dei primitivi: dal Vasari ai neoclassici, Einaudi 1964 (or a re- edition with an introductory note by Enrico Castelnuovo, Einaudi 1989)
• M. Baxandall, The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany, Yale University Press 1980 (also available in an Italian translation: Scultori in legno del Rinascimento tedesco, introduction by E. Castelnuovo, Einaudi 1989)
• J. Shearman, «Only Connect...». Art and the Spectator in the Italian Renaissance, Princeton University Press 1992 (also available in an Italian translation: Arte e spettatore nel Rinascimento italiano. «Only connect...», Jaca Book 1995)
• J. Montagu, Roman Baroque Sculpture. The Industry of Art, Yale University Press 1989 (also available in an Italian translation: La scultura barocca romana. Un’industria dell’arte, Allemandi 1991)
• R. Wittkower, Arte e architettura in Italia, 1600-1750 [1958], Einaudi 1972 (or subsequent reprints)
• H. Honour, Neoclassicismo [1968], Einaudi 1980

Wider readings on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:

• F. Rovati, L’arte dell’Ottocento, Einaudi 2015
• F. Rovati, L’arte del primo Novecento, Einaudi 2015
• A. Del Puppo, L’arte contemporanea. Il secondo Novecento, Einaudi 2013
• M. Schapiro, L’arte moderna, Einaudi 1986
• A. Scharf, Arte e fotografia, Einaudi 1979
• T.J. Clark, Addio a un’idea. Modernismo e arti visive, Einaudi 2005
• R. Krauss, L’originalità dell’avanguardia e altri miti modernisti, Fazi 2007
• M. Schapiro, L’Impressionismo. Riflessi e percezioni, Einaudi 2008
• K. Varnedoe, Una squisita indifferenza. Perché l’arte moderna è moderna, Johan & Levi 2016

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Philosophy

The written test will consist of analysing and commenting on a passage taken from a classic philosophical work or the discussion of an individual philosophical problem. Knowledge of philosophical thought and the capacity for interpretation and analysis will be assessed. The passage proposed will present a degree of complexity commensurate with the best university-level knowledge. Consultation of the past text papers is advisable. 

For the oral test, in addition to the competences and knowledge indicated for the first-year test, university-level historical-philosophical and analytical competences are required, as well as the capacity to use, on the basis of the study course completed, the research tools and methodologies most appropriate for identifying and tackling classic philosophical problems and topics arising from the contemporary philosophical debate.

In addition to the three classic authors indicated for the first-year test, it is advisable to read at least three critical studies, one for each historical section, selected from the list here below (reference may be made to any edition).

1) Ancient and medieval philosophy

• A.A. Long, La mente, l'anima, il corpo. Modelli greci, Einaudi
• J.-P. Vernant, Le origini del pensiero greco, Feltrinelli
• G. Cambiano, I filosofi in Grecia e a Roma, Il Mulino
• M. Vegetti, Filosofia e sapere della città antica, Hoepli
• P. Hadot, Che cos’è la filosofia antica?, Einaudi
• M.C. Nussbaum, La fragilità del bene. Fortuna ed etica nella tragedia e nella filosofia greca, Il Mulino
• E. Gilson, La filosofia nel Medioevo, Rizzoli
• A. De Libera, Il problema degli universali. Da Platone alla fine del Medioevo, La Nuova Italia

2) Modern philosophy

• E. Cassirer, Individuo e cosmo nella filosofia del Rinascimento, Bollati Boringhieri
• P. Rossi, La nascita della scienza moderna in Europa, Laterza
• M. Mugnai, Introduzione alla filosofia di Leibniz, Einaudi
• E. Scribano, Macchine con la mente. Fisiologia e metafisica tra Cartesio e Spinoza, Carocci
• K. Löwith, Da Hegel a Nietzsche, Einaudi
• I. Berlin, Le radici del romanticismo, Adelphi
• R. Bodei, La civetta e la talpa. Sistema ed epoca in Hegel, Il Mulino
• T. Pinkard, La filosofia tedesca. 1760-1860, Einaudi

3) Contemporary philosophy

• R. Bodei, La filosofia del Novecento, Feltrinelli
• M. Friedman, La filosofia al bivio. Carnap, Cassirer, Heidegger, Cortina
• A.G. Gargani, Wittgenstein. Musica, parola, gesto, Cortina
• M. Dummett, Origini della filosofia analitica, Einaudi
• H. Reichenbach, La nascita della filosofia scientifica, Il Mulino
• J. Habermas, Il discorso filosofico della modernità, Laterza
• B. Williams, Comprendere l'umanità, Il Mulino
• J. Searle, La riscoperta della mente, Bollati Boringhieri

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Archaeology

Knowledge is required of the historical features in Greece and in Rome of the main artistic manifestations from the archaic era to Late Antiquity (architecture, painting, topography, sculpture, ceramics). In addition, candidates are advised to read at least two of the works chosen from among the following:

• S.E. Alcock - R. Osborne (eds.), Classical Archaeology, Malden (MA) 2007.
• M. Barbanera, L’archeologia degli italiani, Roma 1998.
• P.C. Bol (Hg.), Die Geschichte der antiken Bildhauerkunst, I-IV, Mainz 2002-2010.
• O. Brendel, Introduzione all’arte romana, Torino 1982.
• M. Cometa, Il romanzo dell’architettura. La Sicilia e il Grand Tour nell’età di Goethe, Roma-Bari 1999.
• C. Hallett, The Roman Nude. Heroic Portrait Statuary 200 BC - AD 300, Oxford 2005.
• T. Hölscher, Il linguaggio dell’arte romana. Un sistema semantico, Torino 1993.
• C. Robert, Ermeneutica Archeologica. Guida all’interpretazione delle opere figurative di età classica, Napoli 1976.
• S. Settis (edited by), I Greci. Storia, cultura, arte, società, Torino 1996-2002.
• A. Snodgrass, Homer and the Artists. Text and Picture in Early Greek Art, Cambridge 1998.
• A. Stewart, Greek Sculpture. An Exploration, New Haven 1990.
• P. Zanker, Augusto e il potere delle immagini, Torino 1989 (Bollati Boringhieri 2006).
• P. Zanker, Un’arte per l’impero. Funzione ed intenzione delle immagini nel mondo romano, Milano 2002.
• P. Zanker - B.C. Ewald, Vivere con i miti. L’iconografia dei sarcofagi romani, Italian edition edited by G. Adornato, Torino 2008.

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Ancient history

The written test will consist of the production of an essay on history, based on one of the titles proposed by the commission. The titles, which may include topics of Greek or Roman history, from the archaic period to late antiquity, will present a degree of complexity commensurate with the highest university-level knowledge. Also assessed will be linguistic competence, lexical property and knowledge of the essential sources and bibliography. To this end, you are advised to consult the previous test papers.

The oral test will consist of an interview aimed at ascertaining the level of knowledge of the events and chronological frameworks of ancient history, from the Greek world of the archaic period to late antiquity, and of the main historiographic issues. The test will aim not only to verify the soundness of the candidates' preparation, but also to valorise their capacity to utilise historical categories and to discuss historiographic sources and issues.

Candidates are required to read six of the works indicated, to be chosen with emphasis on criteria of thematic, chronological and disciplinary variety.

• C. Ampolo, Storie greche, Torino 1997
• C. Bearzot, Come si abbatte una democrazia. Tecniche di colpo di stato nell'Atene antica, Bari 2013
• C. Bearzot, Il federalismo greco, Bologna 2014
• M. Bettalli, Un mondo di ferro.La guerra nell’Antichità, Bari 2021
• A. Chaniotis, Età di conquiste. Il mondo greco da Alessandro ad Adriano, Milano 2019
• J.K. Davies, La Grecia classica, Bologna 1983
• U. Fantasia, La guerra del Peloponneso, Roma 2012
• M.I. Finley, Problemi e metodi di storia antica, Bari 1998
• M. Giangiulio, Democrazie greche, Roma 2015
• M.H. Hansen, La democrazia ateniese nel IV secolo a.C., Trieste 2003
• M. Lupi, Sparta. Storia e rappresentazioni di una città greca, Carocci 2017
• M. Mari, L’età ellenistica, Roma 2019
• A. Momigliano, Saggezza straniera. L’Ellenismo e le altre culture, Torino 2019
• D. Musti, Demokratia. Origini di un’idea, Bari 2013
• J. de Romilly, Alcibiade. Un avventuriero in una democrazia in crisi, Milano 2010
• J. Thornton, Polibio. Il politico e lo storico, Roma 2020.
• G. Bowersock, La storia inventata. Immaginazione e sogno da Nerone a Giuliano, Napoli 2014.
• P. Brown, Il mondo tardoantico. Da Marco Aurelio a Maometto, Torino 2017 (1971)
• P.A. Brunt, La caduta della repubblica romana, Roma-Bari 2004
• J.-M. David, La romanizzazione dell’Italia, Roma-Bari 2002
• A. Fraschetti, Roma e il principe, Roma-Bari 2005 (1990)
• A. Fraschetti, La conversione. Da Roma pagana a Roma cristiana, Roma-Bari 2004 (1999)
• A. Giardina (a cura di), L’uomo romano, Roma-Bari 2006 (1994)
• A. Giardina, L’Italia romana. Storie di un’identità incompiuta, Roma-Bari 1997
• S. Mazzarino, L’impero romano, Roma-Bari (1956)
• S. Mazzarino, La fine del mondo antico, Torino 2008 (1959)
• S. Mazzarino, Tra Oriente e Occidente, Torino 2007 (1947)
• C. Nicolet, Il mestiere di cittadino nell’antica Roma, Roma 2019 (1978)
• R. Syme, La rivoluzione romana, Torino 2020 (1939)

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