Medieval Wonders: Monuments from Across the Globe

Catalog description

This course will introduce art of the medieval world, considered globally, with a special focus on monuments surviving from the seventh to fifteenth centuries. Emphasis will be on sculpture and architecture; other media--manuscript illumination, wall paintings, ceramics, and metalwork--will be discussed in conjunction with the related sites. We will travel, virtually, to Pre-Columbian Yucatan, Judeo-Christian Europe, Islamic Spain and Central Asia, Hindu and Buddhist India, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. Each week one or two monuments will be discussed in depth, and other sites will be introduced to place it into historical and art historical contexts. Among the themes we will explore are the power relationships between sovereignty and religion; visual expressions of politics and propaganda; the ways literature, performance, and devotion informed medieval material culture; the importance of pilgrimage; and influences of international trade. Ethical and nationalist issues surrounding looting and cultural patrimony will also be discussed. Objects from CMA's permanent collections will form an integral part of the course. Each unit will end with the consideration of collecting practices. Offered as ARTH 357 and ARTH 457 . Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course. Counts as a Understanding Global Perspectives course.