Medieval Murals and Mosaics

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This class explores the development of monumental mosaic and fresco in the Middle Ages through key monuments in places like Rome, Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Palermo, and Venice. A central goal for the course will be to understand the ways in which mural paintings and mosaics distinguish themselves from other visual media in the medieval world. We will consider the relationship between murals and their architectural setting and how the relative size of wall paintings and mosaics impacts the way beholders relate to and understand them. We will also examine the many different functions of medieval murals, as media for story-telling, as liturgical instruments, and as vehicles for the transmission of knowledge, theological doctrines, or political propaganda.