Authority and Invention: Medieval Art and Architecture

This course covers masterworks of art and architecture in Western Europe from the decline of Rome to the dawn of the Italian Renaissance. It explores the creative tension between the impulse to originality and the authority of classical models in the search for new art forms. Emphasis is placed on representative works considered in their totality (architecture, painting, sculpture, and minor arts) as experiential wholes and on the plurality of geographical and cultural contexts (Italy, Germany, France, England, and Spain). It explores the forms, types, styles, intellectual, theoretical, and cultural contexts of paradigmatic monuments from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages (approximately 300–1300 AD).

Course format:

It is intended for both graduate and undergraduate students. Both groups attend the two weekly lectures but have different weekly sections. Site visits on the syllabus are primarily for undergraduates; the content of section for graduates varies according to the interests of participants. Requirements include: quizzes on images, lecture materials and readings; short papers and prepared discussion topics; and a final research paper. Design students may substitute a design problem of their own devising for the research paper.

Jointly offered course: FAS Medieval Studies 107.

Prerequisites: None. ?

Jointly Offered Course: FAS MdvlStd 107