Holy Houses Sacred Shrine: Art, Religion, and Experience in Medieval and Early Modern Rome

Catalog description

This class examines the Christian art and architecture of Rome, from the Early Christian period through the early Baroque. We will explore the rich body of objects and sites that made up the vibrant visual and spatial landscape of the papal city, ranging from entire churches and large-scale mosaics, to smaller devotional objects such as painted icons, sculpted altarpieces, and reliquaries. Situating our discussions within the religious and social fabric of Rome, we will come to know how art served a key role in serving liturgical practice and presented fundamental church teachings to the laity. Moreover, we will uncover how aesthetics and design evolved in concert with concerns for popular piety and devotion, revealing how objects and sites (both monumental and small-scale) enriched private encounters with the divine.