Seeing Things: Vision Across Text and Image in Medieval Italy

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In the Italian Middle Ages, vision was more than a physical process, it was a way of understanding the world, navigating society, and expressing devotion and desire. Fascinated by mystical experience but saturated with social conventions that sought to control as well as to captivate the gaze, theories and mythologies of vision shaped social life and self-expression, illuminating the centuries traditionally known as the “Dark Ages” with a rich discourse on sight and perception. This course explores the theme of vision across texts and images from medieval Italy, investigating whose visions got to be recorded. Readings include poetic, devotional, and scientific texts and the study selected visual artifacts from illuminated manuscripts to major fresco cycles, ecclesiastical artworks, and domestic decorations. In addition to exploring how ‘seeing’ shaped the medieval mind, students will uncover how authors and artists investigated the space between what could be seen and what could only be imagined.