Icons and Iconoclasm

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Christian icons have been a source of enthusiasm and contention from late Roman times on. Did the Bible really forbid sacred images? Did Christians believe that a presence animated the material icon? What made the sacred portrait such a powerful focus of devotion and the arts? This course will introduce students to the rise of the Christian icon as a new artistic mode of thought and life in the European Middle Ages. We will explore how and why Christians chose to adapt portraiture to their religious, social and personal lives. We will also examine iconoclasms throughout history, and articulate different understandings of how and why images, idols, and icons were destroyed. These discussions will enhance our comprehension of iconoclasms of the present-day.