Art of the Early Middle Ages in Europe

(4 Credits)

Christian architecture, sculpture, painting, mosaic, manuscript illumination, and luxury arts in the Greek East and Latin West from 200 C .E. through ca. 950 C.E. Considers visual and material culture of Christianity in light of the religious, historical, political, social, and cultural contexts. Style periods: Christian, early Byzantine, barbarian, insular, Merovingian, and Carolingian. Topics include: the commemoration of the dead; art and theology; emergence of the cult of saints; early medieval patrons; arts of pilgrimage and early monasticism; word and image in early medieval culture; and iconoclasm and debates about the role of images in early Christianity.