ARTH 6351 - Problems in Byzantine Art

(crosslisted) ARKEO 6351 , CLASS 7752 , MEDVL 6351 , NES 6351 , RELST 6351 , VISST 6351  
     

Byzantine artists produced a wide variety of images that modern interpreters have recognized as “portraits.” These images illuminate individual identity and visual representation in Byzantium. On the one hand, the constituent elements of a portrait (such as physiognomy, gesture, dress, and attributes) illuminate cultural understandings of personhood. On the other hand, those elements are assembled and displayed through means (composition, medium, and context) that illuminate cultural understandings of images and their ability to extend personal energy. We will focus on the primary sources, including preserved monuments (manuscripts, mosaics, sculptures, etc.) and literary witnesses (epigrams, historians’ accounts, etc.), supplemented by selections from the secondary literature on identity, individuality, and subject formation in Byzantium.

Previous topics include: Ravenna, Hagia Sophia, Byzantine Iconoclasm, Spiral Relief Columns.