Aims

By the end of the course, students will have a broad overview of Western European Art in the Middle Ages, including architecture, sculpture, painting, the decorative arts and the peripheral arts which influenced these major forms. They will have acquired an understanding of how the period is divided into particular periods and stylistic movements as well as a specialized vocabulary and will be able to take a work of art from the period and situate it stylistically, historically and geographically. They will also be able to place the work in context.

Main themes

The course gives students an overview of Medieval Western European Art, architecture, sculpture, painting and the decorative arts and the peripheral artistic cultures (Islamic and Byzantine) from the Vth to the XVth century.

Content and teaching methods

This course covers the major periods of European and Paleochristian Medieval Art, Medieval Art in the Barbarian, Carolingian, Roman and Gothic kingdoms, examining their architectural achievements and their achievements in painting, sculpture and the decorative arts. It also provides students with historiographically defined notions of medieval "styles". Emphasis is placed on the continuity of Art from Roman Antiquity, on the predominance of architecture and the important role of religious zeal in art. Comparisons are also made with Byzantine and Islamic Art.

Other credits in programs