Exploring Art History: Life, Death, and the Afterlife in Art

Catalog description

This course will introduce students to the discipline of art history through the study of important works of funerary art from across the globe. We will consider how objects from tombs and other funerary contexts construct and negotiate the relationship between life and the afterlife in diverse cultures and time periods. We will study the funerary monuments of rulers as well as objects created for the burial rites of common people, and works of art used by the living to depict and prepare for an afterlife. We will also discuss contemporary debates around these monuments.