Introduction to Art History I

Catalog description

An introduction to visual and material culture and built environments from the Ancient Near East through 1650. We will trace developments in cultural production at the center and periphery of the great empires of the pre–modern world in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with a consideration of political and religious institutions that regulated the production and use of images, objects, buildings and space. We will also focus on the impact of technological innovation and cultural exchange on art and architecture, including changes brought about by commercial expansion, conquest, colonization, religious conversion, and pilgrimage. Offered regularly in the Fall.