SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This research-oriented course examines the impact of the Celtic and 'Barbarian,' or Migratory, peoples (Goths, Vandals, Longobards, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, etc.) on the art, architecture, urban spaces, and landscapes of Western and Central Europe from Late Antiquity (300s-500s) to the rise of a new Roman Empire under the leadership of the Franks and their successors (800s-1000s). Its special foci are the arts of monasteries and courts (ducal, royal, papal); the material culture of everyday life (jewelry, clothing, weapons); interactions with neighboring Islamic and Byzantine cultures; and media considered 'minor' since the Renaissance but highly valued in the Middle Ages: manuscript illumination and calligraphy, metalwork and gems, weaving, and embroidery, and the performances (coronations, liturgies, funerals) that much material art was made to accompany. Course format: lectures by the professor (most Mondays); discussion of readings (most Wednesdays); and student presentations, especially in the latter half of the term. The course includes some practical components--a chance to try working in some early medieval media for purposes of study (no artistic experience or talent are required)--as well as a mandatory field trip on Friday, March 30th, to visit some very beautiful but little-known early medieval sites in northern Latium and southern Umbria (approximate cost: 40 euros; provisional itinerary: Tempietto del Clitunno, S. Salvatore near Spoleto, S. Pietro in Valle near Ferentillo; possibly the Abbey of Farfa).
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CLS
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DATES
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THEME
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TO READ/PREPARE FOR THIS CLASS MEETING (subject to change)
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ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READINGS (Honors students: choose three to prepare during the term, in addition to basic readings)
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1a
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Mon., Jan. 16
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The Roman Language of Art
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Nees, Intro. & Ch. 1
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1b
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Wed., Jan. 18
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Darkness
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T. Mommsen, "Petrarch's conception of the 'Dark Ages'," Speculum 17 (1942), 226-242.
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2a
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Mon., Jan. 23
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The Earliest Christian Art
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Nees Ch. 2
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2b
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Wed., Jan. 25
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Bodies
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J. Osborne, "The Roman Catacombs in the Middle Ages," Papers of the British School at Rome 53 (1985), pp. 278-328
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H. Belting, Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image beforethe Era of Art, 1990, introduction and Ch. 3.
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3a
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Mon., Jan. 30
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Conversion
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Nees, Ch. 3
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3b
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Wed., Feb. 1
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Performance
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M. Helms, "Before the Dawn. Monks and the Night in Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Europe," Anthropos, Bd. 9/1 (2004), 177-191
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Hans Teitler, "Raising on a Shield: Origin and Afterlife of a Coronation Ceremony," International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 8/4 (2002), 501- 521; OR Howard L. Adelson, "The Holy Lance and the Hereditary German Monarchy," The Art Bulletin, 48/ 2 (1966), 177-192 OR R. Deshman, "Otto III and the Warmund Sacramentary: A Study in Political Theology," Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 34/1 (1971), 1-20
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4a
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Fri., Feb. 3
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Art for Aristocrats
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Nees, Ch. 4
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4b
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Mon., Feb. 6
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Ornament
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M. Hardt, "Royal Treasures and Representation in The Early Middle Ages," in W. Pohl & H. Reimitz, eds. Strategies of Distinction: The Constructon of Ethnic Communities 300-800, Boston, 1998, 255-80;
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P. Wells, Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsidered, New York/London, 2008, pp. 142-69, 212-213; M. Hardt, "Royal Treasures and Representation in The Early Middle Ages," in W. Pohl & H. Reimitz, eds. Strategies of Distinction: The Constructon of Ethnic Communities 300-800, Boston, 1998, 255-80; F. Curta, "Female Dress and 'Slavic' Bow Fibulae in Greece," Hesperia 74 (2005), 101-146 OR J. Osborne, "Textiles and Their Painted Imitations in Early Medieval Rome," Papers of the British School at Rome 60 (1992), 309-351
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5a
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Wed., Feb. 8
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Endings and Beginnings
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Nees, Ch. 5
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5b
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Mon., Feb. 13
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Earth & Water
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P. Squatriti, "Offa's Dyke between Nature and Cuture," Environmental History 9 (2004), 37-56
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R. Coates-Stephens, "The Walls and Aqueducts of Rome in the Early Middle Ages, A.D. 500-1000," The Journal of Roman Studies, 88, (1998), 166-178; P. Squatriti, "Digging Ditches in Early Medieval Europe," Past and Present 176 (2002), 11-65.
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6a
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Wed., Feb. 15
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Craftsmanship and Artistry
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Nees, Ch. 6
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6b
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Mon., Feb. 20
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Place
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D. Trout, "Theodelinda's Rome: 'Ampullae', 'Pittacia', and the Image of the City," Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 50 (2005), 131-150; M. Finch, "The Cantharus and Pigna at Old St. Peter's" Gesta Vol. 30/1 (1991), 16-26
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C. Hahn, "Narrative on the Golden Altar of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan: Presentation and Reception" Dumbarton Oaks Papers 53 (199?), 167-87; C. Hahn, "Seeing and Believing: The Construction of Sanctity in Early-Medieval Saints' Shrines," Speculum 72/4 (1997), 1079-1106.
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7a
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Wed., Feb. 22
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Saints and Holy Places
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Nees, Ch. 7
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7b
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Mon., Feb. 27
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Writing
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Erik Thunø, "Inscription and divine presence: golden letters in the early medieval apse mosaic," Word & Image, 27 (2011), 279-291.
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R. Coates-Stephens, "Epigraphy as Spolia - The Reuse of Inscriptions in Early Medieval Buildings," Papers of the British School at Rome 70 (2002), 275-296; L. Nees, "On Carolingian Book Painters: The Ottoboni Gospels and Its Transfiguration Master," The Art Bulletin 83/2 (2001), 209-239.
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8a
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Wed., Feb. 29
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Holy Images
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Nees, Ch. 8; H. Belting, Likeness and Presence, Ch. 4.
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Mar. 5, 7,9 - No class meeting (make.up day for field trip)
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8b
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Mon., Mar. 12
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Midterm exam
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9a
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Wed., Mar. 14
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Word and Image
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Nees, Ch. 9; and TBA
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Mar. 19-23
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Spring break
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9b
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Mon. Mar. 26
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Art at Court
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Nees, Ch. 10; and TBA
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10a
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Wed., Mar. 28
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Research presentations
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Readings to be selected/assigned by students
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Readings to be selected/assigned by students
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10b-11a-11b-12a
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Fri., Mar. 30
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FIELD TRIP: Early Medieval Architecture and incastellamento in Umbria: Tempietto del Clitunno, S. Salvatore at Spoleto, S. Pietro in Valle & the Valnerina
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H. Torp, Il Tempietto Longobardo, La cappella palatina di Cividale (Engl. Trans.), 2006 OR J. Emerick, (Chs. I, X, & pp. 421-423) OR C. McClendon, "An Early Funerary Portrait from the Medieval Abbey at Farfa," Gesta 22/ 1 (1983), 13-26.
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12b
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Mon., Apr. 2
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Expressive and Didactic Images
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Nees, Ch. 11
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13a
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Wed., Apr. 4
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Research presentations
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Readings to be selected/assigned by students
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Readings to be selected/assigned by students
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Mon., Apr. 9 -Pasquetta (no class meeting)
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13b
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Wed., Apr. 11
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Toward a New Age
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Nees, Ch. 12
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14a
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Mon., Apr. 16
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Research presentations
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Readings to be selected/assigned by students
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Readings to be selected/assigned by students
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14b
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Mon., Apr. 23
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Summing up
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Devise sample essay questions for final exam
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Wed., Apr. 25 - La Liberazione (no class meeting)
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Exams week, Apr. 28-May 4
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