Introduction to Medieval Art

(1.5 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will provide an introduction to the visual arts of the period c. AD 300 to c. AD 1300. In the course of the semester, we shall devote much time to considering the possibility of a history of Medieval art, as the objects and practices of the Middle Ages will be shown to make our assumptions about the nature of art history problematic. Working from individual objects and texts we will construct a series of narratives that will attend to the varieties of artistic practices available to the Middle Ages. From these, it will be shown that art was a vital, complex, lucid and formative element in the societies and cultures, both secular and sacred, that shaped this period.