ARTH311

Art in the Early Medieval West

This term will deal with multiple forms and roles of art produced in Western Europe from about the end of the fifth century to about 1030. The impact of Germanic migrations and the dissolution of Roman Imperial civilization in Western Europe at the end of the fifth century produced major transformations in the culture of Europe. Different religious beliefs and social structure inspired new forms and especially a very different style of art. Reflecting on all this, students examine the multiple ways that images functioned and how art was used to serve both devotion and personal status in the midst of the construction of Christian kingdoms and empires, often in threat of disarray and under attack by still pagan Vikings from the North and a vibrant Islamic culture in the south of Spain.