Word Image & Emotion in Medieval Manuscripts

Catalog description

This course explores the sight and sound of medieval manuscripts of the Eastern Roman Empire between the seventh and eleventh centuries. This is a transitional period when challenged by Islam, the portrayal of the divine in figural images underwent a re-evaluation in the Latin West and Greek East. Through relational analysis of word and image, we carve new pathways of understanding of what the icon is and how it mobilizes emotion and shapes identity in differentiation with the other cultures of the book. We will study facsimiles of the major manuscripts and explore their use in the public ritual in Rome, Constantinople, Sinai, Damascus, Baghdad, Cordoba, and Aachen.