International Teaching | BYZANTIUM: MATERIAL AND VISUAL CULTURE
International Teaching BYZANTIUM: MATERIAL AND VISUAL CULTURE
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cod. 0322400050
BYZANTIUM: MATERIAL AND VISUAL CULTURE
| 0322400050 | |
| DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE | |
| EQF7 | |
| ART HISTORY AND CRITICISM | |
| 2025/2026 |
| YEAR OF COURSE 2 | |
| YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2016 | |
| AUTUMN SEMESTER |
| SSD | CFU | HOURS | ACTIVITY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-ART/01 | 6 | 30 | LESSONS |
| Objectives | |
|---|---|
| THE AIM OF THIS MODULE, TAUGHT IN ENGLISH, IS TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF BYZANTIUM. TOPICS TO BE COVERED INCLUDE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES, EXTANT BUILDINGS AND THEIR DECORATION, AS WELL AS ARTEFACTS RELATED TO RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL PRACTICES AND DAILY LIFE. THE MODULE WILL COVER THE PERIOD FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE CAPITAL CONSTANTINOPLE IN 330 AD TO THE FALL OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE IN 1453. THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA COVERED EXTENDS ACROSS ITALY, THE BALKANS, ANATOLIA, THE ISLANDS OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND NORTH AFRICA (EGYPT). |
| Prerequisites | |
|---|---|
| THIS MODULE WILL INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO A RANGE OF IMPORTANT THEMES IN BYZANTINE ART AT A SPECIALIST LEVEL. |
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| THIS MODULE HAS 30 HOURS (15 LECTURES) OF TEACHER-CENTRED LECTURES. THE MAIN TOPICS THAT WILL BE COVERED ARE: •INTRODUCTION TO BYZANTINE STUDIES: KEY-FIGURES •THE FOUNDATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE •THEODOSIUS AND THE HIPPODROME AS STAGE FOR IMPERIAL PROPAGANDA IN THE LATE FOURTH CENTURY •THE EXPANSION OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE SIXTH CENTURY UNDER JUSTINIAN •THE HAGIA SOPHIA BETWEEN CONSTANTINE AND JUSTINIAN •PATRONAGE AND LONG-DISTANCE TRADE OF BUILDING MATERIALS: RAVENNA AND PORE BETWEEN THE FIFTH AND THE SIXTH CENTURIES •IMPERIAL PATRONAGE IN THE HOLY LAND; THE MADABA MAP; MOUNT SINAI: ARCHITECTURE, DECORATION, ICONS, MANUSCRIPTS •COPTIC ARTS AND TEXTILES AND EARLY MONASTICISM •THESSALONIKI IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY •‘BYZANTINE’ ROME AND ‘GREEK POPES’ BETWEEN THE SEVENTH AND THE EIGHTH CENTURIES •THE IMAGE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CONSTANTINOPLE, ROME, AND FRANCIA •THE AGE OF CONSTANTINE VII (913–59); THEOPHANU AND THE WEST •THE AGE OF THE KOMNENOI AND WESTERN POLITIES •NAPLES AND SOUTHERN ITALY, BETWEEN THE BYZANTINES AND THE NORMANS, TENTH–TWELVE CENTURIES •THE FOURTH CRUSADE, VENICE, AND THE TREASURY OF SAN MARCO •THE EMPIRE OF THE PALAIOLOGOI AND THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE |
| Teaching Methods | |
|---|---|
| THIS MODULE IS ORGANISED WITH 30 HOURS OF TEACHER-CENTRED LECTURES. LECTURES WILL BE SUPPORTED WITH POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS. THE DISCUSSION WITH AND AMONG THE STUDENTS WILL BE APPROPRIATELY ENCOURAGED. |
| Verification of learning | |
|---|---|
| THE FINAL EXAM WILL CONSIST OF A 45-MINUTE MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST IN ENGLISH AND A DISCUSSION OF THE ANSWERS. |
| Texts | |
|---|---|
| SOME OF THE FOLLOWING ESSAYS CAN BE FOUND ON JSTOR, A DATABASE TO WHICH UNISA STUDENTS HAVE ACCESS. FOR THE OTHERS, A PDF WILL BE PROVIDED: •L. BRUBAKER, CRITICAL APPROACHES TO ART HISTORY, IN THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF BYZANTINE STUDIES, EDS. R. CORMACK, J. F. HALDON, AND E. JEFFREYS, 2008 (VERRÀ FORNITO IL PDF). •E. JEFFREYS, J.F. HALDON, R. CORMACK, BYZANTINE STUDIES AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE, IN THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF BYZANTINE STUDIES, EDS. R. CORMACK, J. F. HALDON, AND E. JEFFREYS, 2008 (VERRÀ FORNITO IL PDF). •E. KITZINGER, “THE HELLENISTIC HERITAGE IN BYZANTINE ART,” DUMBARTON OAKS PAPERS 17 (1963): 95–115. ON FABRICS, IVORIES AND GOLD OBJECTS AS MEDIUMS OF DEVOTION AND CULTURE IN THE MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN: •S. J. DAVIS, STEPHEN, “FASHIONING A DIVINE BODY: COPTIC CHRISTOLOGY AND RITUALIZED DRESS,” THE HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW 98.3 (JUL. 2005): 335–362. •M. EVANGELATOU, “THE PURPLE THREAD OF THE FLESH. THE THEOLOGICAL CONNOTATIONS OF A NARRATIVE ICONOGRAPHIC ELEMENT IN BYZANTINE IMAGES OF THE ANNUNCIATION,” IN ICON AND WORD. STUDIES PRESENTED TO ROBIN CORMACK, ED. A. EASTMOND AND L. JAMES (ALDERSHOT, ASHGATE, 2003), 261–79 (VERRÀ FORNITO IL PDF). •S. GEREVINI, “THE GROTTO OF THE VIRGIN IN SAN MARCO: ARTISTIC REUSE AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN MEDIEVAL VENICE,” GESTA 53.2 (2014): 197–220. •K. CORRIGAN, “THE IVORY SCEPTER OF LEO VI: A STATEMENT OF POST-ICONOCLASTIC IMPERIAL IDEOLOGY,” THE ART BULLETIN 60.3 (1978): 407–16, •H. MAGUIRE, “GARMENTS PLEASING TO GOD: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DOMESTIC TEXTILE DESIGNS IN THE EARLY BYZANTINE PERIOD,” DUMBARTON OAKS PAPERS 44 (1990): 215–24. •J. OSBORNE, “TEXTILES AND THEIR PAINTED IMITATIONS IN EARLY MEDIEVAL ROME.” PAPERS OF THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ROME 60 (1992): 309–51. •D. G. SHEPHERD, “AN ICON OF THE VIRGIN: A SIXTH-CENTURY TAPESTRY PANEL FROM EGYPT,” THE BULLETIN OF THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART 56. 3 (MAR., 1969): 91–120. |
| More Information | |
|---|---|
| THE MODULE WILL BE DELIVERED DURING THE FIRST SEMESTER, THAT IS BETWEEN SEPTEMBER AND DECEMBER. |
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