Kursinformation

This course aims to investigate the role and use of devotional images and icons in medieval and early modern societies, and highlight the cross-cultural and cross-confessional exchanges between the Byzantine world, the Balkans, the extended Mediterranean and even North-East Africa. It looks at devotional practices of Byzantine art and the dispersion of icons from the Eastern Mediterranean through networks of trade, diplomacy, pilgrimage, and migration between roughly 1300—1700 CE. Students will learn about icon painting and icon veneration in the extended Mediterranean and become familiar with key works of European Medieval, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art. They will also learn to employ basic art historical methods and theory to identify and analyze iconographic themes, stylistic conventions, and major artistic tendencies, as well as assess the historical and theological significance of Eastern icons. Lastly, they will learn how to analyze and synthesize visual material and secondary sources, in order to interpret works of art in relation to their political, socio-economic and religious context.