Medieval Art and Medievalisms - HOA00129M

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Module summary

Why does medieval art continue to fascinate both scholars and a wider public in the twenty-first century? This module will explore the ideas and concepts that have formed our understanding of medieval art, and will be supported by close study of the rich medieval heritage of York and its environs.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

This module will explore the ideas and concepts that have formed our current understanding of medieval art alongside the aesthetic and stylistic characteristics that we now associate with the medieval. These explorations are based on the premise that medieval art is not a single, monolithic entity, but that its meanings and even its visual characteristics have been formed in complex and contingent circumstances from the medieval to the modern. The module will be underpinned by first-hand study of the buildings, artworks, and artefacts that constitute the rich medieval heritage of York and beyond, along with critically informed engagement with digital materials that are having a transformative impact on research.

The first part of the module will concentrate on the concepts, issues, styles, and artworks that have been shaping our understanding of the art of the medieval period itself. It will interrogate, first of all, how that period may be constituted, as a 'middle age' between antiquity and modernity (and how those terms are understood). It will explore the stylistic divisions used by art historians – such as Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic – and test their rationales. It will draw on the rich medieval heritage of York to explore some of the vast range of artistic media practised in the medieval period. It will also ask whether it makes sense to speak of 'medieval' art in geographical contexts beyond Western Europe.

The second part of the module will turn to 'medievalisms' – the various constructions of medieval art in art-making, scholarship, historiography, curating, and museum practice over the centuries since the medieval period itself. It will begin by questioning the boundary line between the 'Gothic' and the 'Gothic Revival'; can we draw a firm line between the medieval period itself and the art of succeeding periods that responded in some way to the medieval? Seminars will explore artistic movements in the post-medieval period that have staged revivals of medieval art; one focus will be the Pre-Raphaelite movement in Victorian Britain, and students will be encouraged to identify and research a wide range of other 'medievalisms'. The module will also consider the history of scholarship on medieval art, with particular attention to the contribution of medieval scholars to the wider discipline of art history from the late nineteenth century onwards. 

The module aims to bring together students whose principal interest is in the art of the medieval period itself and students who wish to study the medieval revivals of more modern periods. All students will benefit from studying these two areas in their complex relations to one another.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

• An understanding of the concepts, issues, and ideas that inform the study of medieval art today
• An awareness of the historiography of medieval art
• The ability to describe and interpret works of art in a variety of media produced in the medieval period and as part of medieval revivals.  
• A sophisticated awareness of the concept of 'medievalisms' 
• An understanding of the relevance of medievalisms to the study of medieval art

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

• Caskey, Jill, Adam S. Cohen, and Linda Safran. Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages¿: Exploring a Connected World. Cornell University Press, 2022.
• Rudolph, Conrad ed. A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.  
• Studies in Iconography 33 (2012) [= Special Issue: Medieval Art History Today - Critical Terms]
• Normore, Christina. Re-assessing the Global Turn in Medieval Art History. Arc Humanities Press, 2019.
• Ruskin, John. ‘The Nature of Gothic.’ In The Stones of Venice. Estes and Lauriat, 1853, II, 152-229 [often reprinted]
• Pater, Walter. ‘Notre-Dame D’Amiens’ and ‘Vézelay.’ In Miscellaneous Studies: A Series of Essays. MacMillan and Co., 1895, 105-122 and 123-139 [often reprinted]
• Prettejohn, Elizabeth. Modern Painters, Old Masters: The Art of Imitation from the Pre-Raphaelites to the First World War. Yale University Press, 2017
• Nagel, Alexander. Medieval Modern: Art out of Time. Thames & Hudson, 2012. 
• Wells, Emma J. and Claire Kenan, ed. What is Medieval? Decoding Approaches to the Medieval and Medievalism in the 21st Century (Brepols, 2024).