Global Medieval

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Artistic Capitals in Medieval Period coincide with rise and fall of global empires– from the First Golden Age of Byzantium under emperor Justinian (527 CE) to the final crusade and the Siege of Acre (1291 CE). While the popular idea of the Medieval Age as portrayed in television shows casts a “dark age” filled with war, plague, and rampant conflict, the visual and material culture reveals a wealth of activity. During this period the transportation of material goods, circulation of artistic practices, and mobility of ideas across geographies led to networks of connectivity between Constantinople and Cairo, Jerusalem to Rome, and Granada to Sicily. This course examines how art objects (painting, sculpture, textiles, manuscripts, ivories, enamels, and relics) and architecture allow us to recover and retrace the cross-cultural movements both within a European context and beyond. Students will consider issues of patronage, messaging and propaganda, race and cultural migration, trade routes and mechanisms of exchange, and the dynamic rise of artistic capitals. For more information about this and other courses in the Department of Art and Art History, please visit https://art.georgetown.edu This course is not available to audit.