Code 11934
Level of study Second Year
Credit value 10
Semester Scheduled 2012-13, 2
You will be introduced to the pictorial and architectural media of Byzantium which, along with written documents, are the primary contemporary records of the East Roman Empire between ca 300 and ca 1450. Different interpretative strategies apply, however, and we focus on evaluating what the visual can tell us about Byzantine responses to the world. We also examine the ways that images interact with people, and analyse how this differs from the role of texts in the predominantly illiterate society of the Byzantine Empire. In the Spring term, we concentrate on material produced between ca 850 and ca 1450, and assess the artistic legacy of Byzantium in Renaissance Italy, Russia and the avant-garde movements of the 20th century.