Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER IV
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS AND TRIPOS EXAMINATIONS

The Ordinances contained in this Chapter are Ordinances of the General Board

In this section

TRIPOS EXAMINATIONS

HISTORY OF ART TRIPOS

Three Parts.

1. The History of Art Tripos shall consist of three Parts, Part I, Part IIa, and Part IIb.

Standing of candidates.

2. The following may present themselves as candidates for honours in Part I:

  1. (a)a student who has not obtained honours in an Honours Examination, provided that he or she has kept one term and that three complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence;
  2. (b)a student who has obtained honours in an Honours Examination in the year next after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept four terms and that twelve complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.

3. A student who has obtained honours in Part I of the History of Art Tripos or in another Honours Examination may be a candidate for honours in Part IIa in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept four terms and that nine complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.69

4. A student who has obtained honours in an Honours Examination other than Part I of the History of Art Tripos may be a candidate for honours in Part IIb in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept seven terms and that twelve complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.69

5. No student shall be a candidate for more than one Part, or for any Part and also for another Honours Examination, in the same term.

6. No student who has been a candidate for any Part shall again be a candidate for the same Part.

Examiners.

7. The Faculty Board of Architecture and History of Art shall nominate such number of Examiners as they deem sufficient for each Part of the Tripos.

Assessors.

8. The Faculty Board shall have power to nominate one or more Assessors to assist the Examiners in any of the subjects in each Part of the Tripos. If required to do so, Assessors shall set papers in the subject or subjects assigned to them, shall mark the answers of the candidates in those papers, shall assess essays and dissertations, and shall advise the Examiners on the performance of candidates in the examination. Assessors may be summoned to meetings of the Examiners for the purpose of consultation and advice, but shall not be entitled to vote.

9. The questions proposed by each Examiner and Assessor shall be submitted to the whole body of Examiners for approval.

10. The Faculty Board shall have power:

  1. Supplementary regulations.
    (a)to issue from time to time supplementary regulations defining or limiting all or any of the subjects of examination and determining the scope and character of the papers, and to amend or withdraw such supplementary regulations as occasion may require, due care being taken that sufficient notice is given of any change;
  2. (b)to determine the credit to be assigned to each paper, and to establish guidelines to be followed by the Examiners for assessing candidates’ work in the examination and for drawing up the class-lists.
Notice of books and subjects.

11. Public notice of subjects, special periods, and books prescribed under the following regulations or under any supplementary regulations for the Tripos shall be given by the Faculty Board (a) for Part I, before the end of the Easter Term of the year next preceding the examination to which they apply, and (b) for Part IIa and Part IIb, before the end of the Easter Term next but one preceding the examination to which they apply; provided that the Board shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and if they are satisfied that no student's preparation for the examination is adversely affected.

Class-lists.

12. There shall be a separate class-list for each Part. In each list the names of candidates who deserve honours shall be placed in three classes, of which the second shall be divided into two divisions. The names in the first and third classes, and in each division of the second class, shall be arranged in alphabetical order. A mark of distinction may be awarded for special excellence.

Part I

Scheme of examination for Part I.

13. The scheme of examination for Part I shall be:

Paper 1.

The objects of art history.

Papers 2 and 3.

The making of art.

Papers 4 and 5.

The meaning of architecture and art.

Papers 3 and 5 shall each consist of reproductions of works of art requiring comment and interpretation.

Each candidate shall offer all five papers and shall submit a Part I short dissertation, as prescribed in Regulation 18, on a subject approved by the Faculty Board relating to some aspect of art or architecture in or around Cambridge.

Parts IIa and IIb

Scheme of examination for Parts IIa and IIb.

14. The scheme of examination for Part IIa and Part IIb shall be:

Paper 1.

Approaches to the history of art, with reference to works of criticism.

Paper 2.

The display of art.

Papers 3–24.

Such number of pairs of papers on special subjects as the Faculty Board shall announce from time to time in accordance with Regulation 10. There shall be not less than eight and not more than eleven pairs of such papers on special subjects. Each pair of papers shall deal with a particular person, subject, or period in the history of art. In each pair of papers, the second paper shall consist of reproductions of works of art requiring comment and interpretation.

15. A candidate for Part IIa shall offer Paper 1 and two pairs of papers on special subjects.

16. A candidate for Part IIb

  1. (a)who has obtained honours in Part IIa of the History of Art Tripos shall offer Paper 2; two pairs of papers on special subjects; and a Part IIb dissertation of between 7,000 and 9,000 words on a subject approved by the Faculty Board dealing with a particular person, work of art, subject, or period in the history of art;
  2. (b)who takes the examination in the year after obtaining honours in another Tripos shall offer either Paper 1 or Paper 2; two pairs of papers on special subjects; and a Part IIb dissertation of between 7,000 and 9,000 words on a subject approved by the Faculty Board dealing with a particular person, work of art, subject, or period in the history of art.

Parts I, IIa, and IIb

17. A candidate shall not offer in any Part of the Tripos a paper that he or she has previously offered in another University examination.

Dissertation title.

18. (a) Each candidate for Part I shall submit the proposed title of his or her Part I short dissertation for approval by the Faculty Board. Titles shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Department of History of Art so as to arrive not later than the division of the Lent Term next preceding the examination.

(b) Each candidate for Part IIa shall submit a statement of the scheme of papers to be offered in the examination to the Secretary of the Department of History of Art, so as to arrive not later than the second Monday of the Full Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination.

(c) Each candidate for Part IIb shall submit the proposed title of his or her Part IIb dissertation for approval by the Faculty Board. Titles shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Department of History of Art, so as to arrive not later than the last day of the Full Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination.

(d) The Secretary of the Faculty Board shall communicate the Board's approval or rejection of a proposed dissertation title to each candidate. When the Board have approved a title, no change shall be made to it or, in the case of Part IIa or Part IIb, to the candidate's scheme of papers, without the further approval of the Board.

(e) The length of a Part I short dissertation or a Part II dissertation shall be as follows:

A short dissertation submitted by a candidate for Part I shall be of not more than 5,000 words in length. A dissertation submitted by a candidate for Part IIb shall be of not less than 7,000 words and not more than 9,000 words in length.

In each case the prescribed length shall include notes and appendices, but not bibliography. Each dissertation shall be printed or typewritten.

(f) (i) Part I short dissertations shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Department of History of Art, in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, so as to arrive not later than the Friday after the division of the Easter Term in which the examination is to be held.

  (ii) Two copies of the Part IIb dissertation shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Department of History of Art, in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, so as to arrive not later than the first day of the Full Easter Term in which the examination is to be held.

Each candidate submitting a dissertation will be required to sign a declaration that the work submitted is his or her own work, unaided except as may be specified in the declaration, and that it does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose.

SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS

Part I

Paper 1.  The objects of art history

The course for this paper consists of a survey of Western (and some non-Western) art, which introduces students to the development of the visual arts. It provides an opportunity to study the material covered at first hand, by using the resources of the Fitzwilliam Museum and other Cambridge collections, and in relation to its historical and artistic background.

Papers 2 and 3.  The making of art

These papers are concerned with painting and sculpture; the Faculty Board may prescribe specified artists, or specified subjects or periods, for special study. The first half of the course deals with the processes and attitudes which have shaped the world of images, such as methods and materials, the creative process, and notions of quality and taste, as well as the reproduction of images. The course introduces students to such questions, and focuses on specific artists, periods, and traditions. The second half of the course deals with sculpture; it covers various topics, such as techniques and materials, classical sculpture and its legacy, and more modern developments.

Papers 4 and 5.  The meaning of architecture and art

The course for these papers is divided into two halves, dealing respectively with traditions of representation and architectural meaning; the Faculty Board may prescribe specified artists or periods for special study. The course aims to provide an awareness of changing attitudes to architecture and art in Western Europe. Emphasis is placed on close critical study of a range of key examples, as well as their context. The first part of the course covers various topics in the study of the visual arts, focusing on the content and interpretation of the figurative arts. The second part covers areas such as the theory and use of classical orders, building typology, and the relationship between design and construction.

Part IIb

Paper 1. Approaches to the history of art, with reference to works of criticism

This paper will deal with the influence of writers of classical antiquity upon the Renaissance approach to art and architecture; with changing attitudes towards both antiquity and the Middle Ages in the eighteenth century; with nineteenth-century and twentieth-century theoretical and critical approaches to art and architecture; and with recent developments in art historical methods, the growth of connoisseurship, formal and stylistic criticism, and sociological and iconographical interpretations of works of art and architecture.

Footnotes

  1. 69. See also the regulations for Affiliated Students.a b