Assess graduate students’ ability to apply semiotic and iconographic methods to political symbolism in 15th–16th-century Italian portraiture; tasks include identifying and interpreting visual signs (gestures, costume, heraldry, props, inscriptions, composition), situating them within patronage, civic and dynastic politics and regional workshops (Florence, Venice, Milan, Rome), evaluating visual evidence alongside contemporary texts, and producing concise evidence-based readings that connect motifs to political function and intended audiences.