Writing Art in the Middle Ages, 700-1400

Overview

This module will introduce students to the textual sources of medieval art history, documents written during the Middle Ages that discuss visual and material cultures. The objects and images of the Middle Ages were not mere trinkets adorning the lives of the rich, but held an agency that was addressed and discussed by contemporary artists and audiences. Medieval material culture embodied ideas, passions, and a desire to communicate sacred and profane facets of human experience.

In this module, students will study a range of manuscripts, wall-paintings, sculpture, pilgrim badges, architecture, and many more sources created between 700-1400. In parallel with this visual focus, students will engage with a variety of medieval texts to guide them through the role of images at the time; for instance, writings from the church fathers, Jewish authors, late medieval mystics, and twelfth-century teachers. All these people and communities had an opinion about art in their world. From this exploration we will ask a range of questions: why does the mystic Margery Kempe focus on the materiality of objects in her writing; why do some Jewish manuscripts contain images of living things, despite a commandment forbidding them to do so; and what does a church ‘mean’, if anything? These questions address the very heart of the Middle Ages, challenging the notion of a particularly medieval way of making and reading art.

The new proliferation of texts translated into English makes it possible to do this course without expertise in a medieval language, and you will be able to take advantage of this dynamic area of research. Students will gain experience in working with both text and images to answer research questions, experience which will help in many other contexts and subjects.