survey of the art of the western medieval world 4804...survey of the art and architecture of the...

Survey of the Art and Architecture of the Western Medieval

World AEAH 4804—Fall 2017

MWF 9-10 AM

Art Building, Room 226

Dr. Mickey Abel

Office: Art Building, Room 213

Office Hours: MWF 1:00-2:00 or by appt.

Email: [email protected]

Course Description: A Survey of Medieval art and architecture.

Required Textbooks: (all books may be purchased used on-line or at the university bookstore)

Marilyn Stokstad, Medieval Art

William Diebold, Word and Image

Michael Camille, Gothic Art: Glorious Visions

Other reading materials will be placed on the BLACKBOARD Learn website assigned to this

class.

Course Content:

This survey course will cover the time period stretching between the 4th century and the end of

the 14th century. Known collectively as the Middle Ages, it is a period that has been art

historically sub-divided into a series of chronologically successive eras–Late Roman/Early

Christian, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, and Gothic-- each thought to be distinguished by

a set of identifiable characteristics. The sources and validity of these divisions will be critically

analyzed along with the cultural, religious, and political distinctions that span the entire time

frame and provide us with a second set of qualifiers –Christian, Byzantine, Islamic, Monastic,

Courtly, and Secular. The parallel and cross-referencing nature of these sometimes artificial and

shifting categorical divisions will be explored in order to fully comprehend the multi-

dimensional and multi-faceted quality of this time period as it has been defined as an art

historical era.

Course Objectives:

While the medieval world will provide the subject matter, the primary goal of this class will be to

foster an active critical approach to images and image making. Because our own modern world

is inundated with visual imagery--most of which is absorbed passively–this critical approach is

intended to expand the student’s repertoire of historical imagery while augmenting the

development of visual literacy. One avenue to this goal will be the focus on the identification of

the continuities left to us from the middle ages that inform our own cultural production. The

underlying and overarching problem structuring this type of inquiry, however, will be the

challenge to see, and thus understand, these medieval artifacts from within their own site- and

time-specific context. Treating them as cultural documents, we will go beyond a simple

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chronological examination to develop a line of critical inquiry that will allow for the

investigation of both production questions–particularly those emanating from the confluence of

the interests of the artist, patron, and donor -- as well as reception issues, such as those

surrounding audience and the dissemination of an intended message or function.

Course Structure:

In order to facilitate these goals, the format of the class will be divided between introductory

lectures and class discussions based on assigned readings. In addition there will be an on-going

writing project designed to foster a critical understanding of the documentary value of historical

artifacts–particularly those deemed to represent the “canon” as it is presented in traditional

survey textbooks. This project is to be completed in three installments over the course of the

semester. As an incremental assignment, the secondary goal of this project is to promote the

student’s writing skills by focusing on the conveyance of a well-developed argument that has

been structured on the close analysis of both written and visual sources.

Student Evaluation:

Your grade is comprised of four components:

1. Exams–Three exams worth 15% each..............................................45%

2. Canon Project–Three installments worth 15% each…......................45%

3. “Extra”ordinary Participation:

Out of Class Activities

Attendance

Office visits

Daily Reviews

Class Discussion…......................................................10%

Student Assessment:

Exams will be primarily essay format with some image identification and short answer. Initially,

there will be three essays per exam. Students will be responsible for only those images found in

their textbooks although many more images for comparison will be presented in lecture. These

images will be available to the student on the BLACKBOARD LEARN site assigned to our

class. While this class does stress a strong visual component, the primary intent of the exams is

to allow the students to demonstrate their ability to think beyond their memorization skills. The

expectation is that the student will apply theoretical concepts and extrapolate from historical data

garnered from the textbooks, class lectures, and what has been discussed in class in regards to an

image from a particular time period or geographical area to another image/s from those same

parameters. Images will be identified for the student in this portion of the exam.

Quiz portions of the exam will cover the more factual/technical side of our study—such as image

identification, site locations, timelines, and vocabulary. Short homework assignments will be

assigned if the in-class discussion lags. So speak up and add your comments and questions to the

discussion!

Extra-ordinary Participation requirement (10% of the final grade) can be met in a variety of

ways:

Extra-ordinary Credit: An “A” in this class requires EXTRA-ordinary work. Those expecting

to receive an “A” will be expected, therefore, to perform more work than their peers. This work

will consist of reading and commenting on scholarly articles that pertain to the weekly lectures.

These articles have available on the BLACKBOARD LEARN site assigned to our class and are

listed on the weekly schedule of classes. This “extra” work may not be used to substitute for

regular assignments such as the Canon Project or an exam. It is called “extra-ordinary credit”

because it is meant to supplement and augment the student’s regular work in this class and in so

doing demonstrate his or her desire to go beyond what is required and to excel. While there are

articles suggested for each week of the semester, the review of only three articles is required for

an “A” in the class—preferably one per exam cycle. The deadline for turning in these

assignments is December 4th, 2017.

Other outside credit possibilities: A list of movies, lectures, exhibitions will be posted to the

website for credit. These are worth 1% a piece and can be used to meet the 10% Extra-ordinary

Participation requirement with a one page written review. The Deadline for these activities is

December 4th, 2017.

.

ATTENDANCE will be taken by way of a sign-in sheet. This is the student’s responsibility.

Bottom line--it is hard to participate if you are not in class and it is hard to justify the awarding

of the10% for participation if you are not in attendance.

In addition to generally contributing to the class discussion, each lecture will begin with a brief,

student-led REVIEW of the previous week’s lecture. This is meant to be ten minutes or less and

will be delivered by a student of my choice, so keep your class notes up to date. I suggest that

you compare notes before class with a classmate, particularly if you have missed a class. During

the review your classmates can contribute to the material presented and/or question an unclear

point. The purpose of this exercise is to keep us all on the same page.

Attendance Policy: Attendance will be taken on a regular basis. Attendance contributes to your

participation grade, which is 10% of your final grade. It is not only difficult to participate if you

are not in class, but difficult to make an “A” if your overall grade is lowered by 10%! Four (4)

classes missed will be considered worthy for deduction of 10% from the final grade.

Reading is an on-going assignment. Your readings are meant to prepare you for discussion,

therefore you should read the pages assigned before you come to class. Lectures are designed to

provide the foundation for these discussion sessions, but will be substantially different from the

material provided by your readings. It is therefore recommended that notes be taken on both

lecture and discussion material as you will be responsible for both on the exams.

Writing: The “Canon Project” is your writing assignment for the semester. It is broken into

three installments and is meant to be an on-going project that should not be left to the last

minute. These assignments will be discussed in detail in class with unique instructions for each

of the three installments of this semester long project. Due dates for the three installments are

listed on the semester calendar.

Cheating and Plagiarism Policy:

Cheating and Plagiarism are not tolerated by the University or by the professor and will result in

disciplinary action for academic misconduct. Any act of dishonesty is forbidden by the Code of

Student Conduct and will be punished with a course grade of “F,” plus a letter to the Dean of the

College of Visual Arts and Design and the Dean of Students, who will investigate the matter

further.

Student Fee: There is a fee for all art history classes to cover the cost of the images. You have already paid

this fee.

Course Risk Factor:

According to University Policy, this course is classified as a Category One Course. Students in

this course will not be exposed to any significant hazards and are not likely to suffer any bodily

injury. Students will be informed of any potential health hazards or potential bodily injury

connected with the use of any materials and/or processes and will be instructed how to proceed

without danger to themselves or others.

American Disabilities Act: “The College of Visual Arts and Design is committed to full

academic access for all qualified students, including those with disabilities. In keeping with this

commitment and in order to facilitate equality of educational access, faculty members in the

College will make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with a disability, such as

appropriate adjustments to the classroom environment and the teaching, testing, or learning

methodologies when doing so does not fundamentally alter the course.

If you have a disability, it is your responsibility to obtain verifying information from the Office

of Disability Accommodation (ODA) and to inform me of your need for an accommodation.

Requests for accommodation must be given to me no later than the first week of classes for

students registered with the ODA as of the beginning of the current semester. If you register

with the ODA after the first week of classes, your accommodation requests will be considered

after this deadline. Grades assigned before an accommodation is provided will not be changed.

Information about how to obtain academic accommodations can be found in UNT Policy

18.1.14, at www.unt.edu/oda, and by visiting the ODA in Room 321 of the University Union.

You also may call the ODA at 940.565.4323.

BUILDING EMERGENCY PROCEDURES: In case of emergency (alarm will sound),

please follow the building evacuation plans posted on each floor of your building and proceed to

the nearest parking lot. In case of tornado (campus sirens will sound) or other weather related

threat, please go to the nearest hallway or room on your floor without exterior windows and

remain their until an all clear signal is sounded. Follow the instructions of your teachers and act

accordingly.

CENTER FOR STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITES: Each University of North

Texas student is entitled to certain rights associated with higher education institutions. See

www.unt.edu/csrr for further information.

The Professor retains the right to change this syllabus with or without notice.

http://www.unt.edu/csrr

Semester Schedule

Week 1—August 28th………...............................Introduction to the class:

Visual Analysis--The Roman Legacy

Week 2—September 4th …………..…………………….Constantine’s World:

Christians and the Dead--The Basilica

(No Class Monday Sept. 4th)

Reading: Stokstad, 1-36.

Extra-ordinary Credit:

Howard Cohen, Architecture and the After Life, “From Mausoleum to

Martyrium,” Yale University Press, 1991, pp. 101-122;

John Onians, Bearers of Meaning, “Intro” pp. 3-6, 59-73.

Jas Elsner, Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph, 1-26

Week 3—September 11th .........................................The Central Plan Building

Reading: Stokstad, pp. 36-48


Robert Ousterhout, “The Temple, the Sepulcher, and the Martyrion of the

Savior,” Gesta XXIX/1 (1990): 44-53.

Eugene Kleinbauer, “Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome: The Patronage of Emperor

Constantius II and Architectural Invention,” Gesta XLV/2 (2006): 325-145.

Week 4—September 18th…………………………………………Byzantium

**** Canon I—Contextualization Counterpoint—Political Appropriation of Medieval

Symbolism) Due Monday, September 18th ****

Reading: Stokstad, 49-77; 145-158.


Irina Andreescu-Threadgold and Warren Threadgold, “Procopius and the Imperial

Panels of S.Vitale,” The Art Bulletin LXXIX/4 (1997): 708-723;

Ruth Leader, “The David Plates Revisited: Transforming the Secular in Early

Byzantium,” The Art Bulletin LXXXII/3 (2000): 407-427;

Bissera Pentcheva, “The Performative Icon,” The Art Bulletin LXXXVIII/4

(2006): 631-655.

Week 5—September 25th…………………………..Early Medieval Migration

****Exam I—Monday September 25th**** Reading: Stokstad, 78-106.

Week 6—October 2nd……..…………The Anglo Saxons and the Iberian Visigoths

Reading: Diebold, 1-148


Jerrylynn Dodds, Architecture and Ideology in Early Medieval Spain, pp. 1-26.

Janina Safran, “Identity and Differentiation in Ninth-Century al-Andalus,”

Week 7—October 9th………........................... The Carolingians and the Ottonians

Monastic Order and the Holy Roman Empire

Reading: Stokstad, 107-131, 178-196;


John Moreland, “The Carolingian Empire: Rome Reborn?” 392-418.

Thomas Dale, “Monster, Corporeal Deformities, and Phantasms in the Cloister of

St- Michel-de-Cuxa,” The Art Bulletin LXXXIII/3 (2001): 402-436

Adam Cohen, “Bernward and Eve at Hildesheim,” Gesta LX/1 (2001): 19-38.

Week 8—October 16th…………………………………..………Islam and Spain

Religious Diversity and Crusading

****Museum Day: Friday, October 20th****

Reading: Stokstad, 159-177;

Oleg Grabar, Formation of Islamic Art, pp. 1-18.


Nasser Rabbat, “The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock,” Maqaruas 6

(1989): 12-21.

Jerrylynn Dodds, Architecture and Ideology in Early Medieval Spain, pp. 94-109.

Week 9—October 23rd...................................................... The Romanesque:

Pilgrimage, the Cult of Saints and the Monastery

****Canon II—Contextualization Counterpoint: Cultural Diversity in Pop Culture--due

Friday, October 27th***

Reading: Stokstad, 197-264


Barbara Abou-El-Haj, “The Audiences for the Medieval Cult of Saints, Gesta

XXX/1 (1991): 3-15.

Edson Armi, “The Context of Cluny III Sculpture,” Gesta XXVII/1-2 (1988): 39-

50.

Cynthia Hahn, “The Voices of Saints: Speaking Reliquaries,” Gesta XXXVI/1

(1997): 20-31.

Linda Seidel, “Installation as Inspiration: The Passion Cycle from La Daurade,”

Gesta 83-92

Week 10—October 30th………............................................ Romanesque France

Millennialism and the Tympanum

Reading: Meyer Schapiro, Romanesque Art, “On the Aesthetic Attitude in Romanesque

Art, New York, 1947, pp. 1-27.


Conrad Rudolph, “Bernard of Clairvaux’s Apologia as a Description of Cluny and

the Controversy over Monastic Art,” Gesta XXVII/1 -2 (1988): 125-148.

Dorothy Glass, “Romanesque Sculpture in Campania and Sicily: A Problem of

Method,” The Art Bulletin, pp. 315-323.

Week 11—November 6th………………..…………………….Visual Literacy:

Wall Painting, Glass, Ivory, and Tapestries


Katherine Tachau, “God’s Compass and Vana Curiositas: Scientific Study in the

Old French Bible Moralisee,” The Art Bulletin LXXX/1 (1998): 7-33

Wayne Dynes, “Art, Language, and Romanesque,” Gesta XXVIII/1 (1989): 3-10

Christopher Norton, “Bernard, Suger, and Henry I’s Crown Jewels,” Gesta

XLV/1 (2006): 1-14.

Week 12—November 13……….………………….…… Gothic Architecture

**** EXAM II, Monday November 13th****

Reading: Stokstad, pp. 265-277; 292-312..


Bonde, Boyden, and Maines, “Centrality and Community: Liturgy and Gothic

Chapter Room Design at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes,

Soissons,” Gesta XXIX/2 (1990): 189-213

Robert Bork, “Into Thin Air: France, Germany, and the Invention of the

Openwork Spire,” The Art Bulletin LXXXV/1 (2003): 25-53

Michael Davis, “Splendor and Peril: The Cathedral of Paris, 1290-1350,” The Art

Bulletin LXXX/1 (1998): 34-66.

Martin Trachtenberg, “Gothic/Italian “Gothic”: Toward a Redefinition, JSAH L

(1991): 22-37.

Week 13—November 20………................................................... Gothic Sculpture

(No Class November 24th—Happy Thanksgiving!)

Reading: Stokstad, pp. 277-291.


Jacqueline Jung, “Beyond the Barrier: The Unifying Role of the Choir Screen in

Gothic Churches,” The Art Bulletin LXXXII/4 (2000): 622-657.

Nina Rowe, “Synagoga Tumbles, a Rider Triumphs: Clerical Viewers and the

Furstenportal of Bamberg Cathedral,” Gesta XLV/1 (2006): 15-42.

Week 14—November 27th………..…………………………….Medieval Women

****Canon III—Contextualization Counterpoint: Race in the Middle Ages-- due Monday,

November 27th

Reading: Stokstad, pp. 292-303; 312-330; 331-353.

Week 15—December 4th……………………..……………….New Ways of Seeing

Reading: Camille, Gothic Visions

*****Exam III, Presented December 6th--Due during the University Scheduled Exam Day

Week 16—December 10th…………………..University Final Exam Schedule

The Canon Project

A “canon” is defined as a basic principle or standard criterion; it is authoritative and orthodox.

Art historical survey texts, such as Marilyn Stockstad’s Art History generally present a cross-

section of the standard artifacts for each of the chronologic periods covered. These objects,

images, or buildings comprise the art historical “canon” in that through them foundational

criteria for the study of a particular period is established. Texts such as those assigned in this

class--Michael Camille’s Glorious Visions or William Diebold’s Word and Image-- on the other

hand, are organized around analytical questions. Rather than providing a set of canonical images

the artifacts presented in these texts illustrate particular issues or problems relevant to either the

contemporary producing agents or the viewing audience. In this way, these artifacts are treated

as documents. They record cultural specificities that in some cases are not otherwise available to

the modern historian. In other cases they confirm and support ideas derived from other sources

such as literary texts or archeological data. And although these artifacts may well be

aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, their historical value lies in the information they provide in

terms of the culture that produced them. It is sometimes through these visual documents that we

find our clearest vision of the past.

The objective for each of the three installments of this project is analyze the standard survey

text—Stockstad--and propose the addition of one New object that you feel would enhance the

presentation of a designated section of the book. The added image should address what you feel

is a clear omission. It should either contribute to the argument presented by the author or present

a different, yet relevant question or counter-point.

Each of the three installments of this project should include three elements—not necessarily in

this order.

1. A formal analysis (detailed visual description) of the artifact. We will discuss this

exercise in class.

2. An analysis of the issues or questions illustrated by your chosen artifact.

3. An explanation of why your artifact should be included in the textbook. How does it

contribute to our knowledge of the period. What questions does it address? How

does it fit into the overall organization of the book. How would you argue to have

it included?

In order to be successful in this last segment you will have to be familiar with both the issues

already presented in your textbook and the way artifacts have been treated in the catalogue texts

on reserve. An expedient approach to this assignment, therefore, would be to begin by thinking

critically about what you feel is missing from your text. Rather than choosing an image or object

and trying to make it fit the parameters of the textbook, I would encourage you to ask yourselves

if there are any questions or issues that you feel should be explored, but have been omitted or

overlooked in your textbook. Attempt to find an artifact from the catalogue texts that will

facilitate this line of questioning.

The underlying objective for this project is through a critical comparison of the two types of text

books and the employment of the artifacts illustrated within them to bring the student to an

understanding of the ways in which an artifact can be employed as a visual document. In this

respect the project is not meant to be a traditional research paper. It is not necessary–nor will

credit be given–for the use of sources outside of those texts I have put on reserve. This is

especially true of internet sources. In order to comprehend the dimensions and parameters of the

“canon” you must be aware of both its depth and its breadth. A virtual source will not allow you

this type of access.

Each installment should not exceed three (3) typed, double-spaced pages. A photocopy of your

artifact should be attached, as well as a reference to the catalogue text from which it was

found.

Each installment of your project should be secured within a folder that will accommodate all

three installments. At each due date I would expect to see the all previous installments. This is

meant to be an on-going project where improvements are made in both argumentation and

writing based on the comments I have made on the previous paper. This will necessitate your

reading my comments and my having access to them to evaluate your progress. Points will be

deducted for failure to turn in the complete folder. No late projects will be accepted!

Due dates for the Three Installments of the Canon Project are listed in the Class Schedule

I (print) acknowledge that I have read the course syllabus. I understand the course structure, grading and attendance policies as well as the risk factor rating. I hereby agree to the syllabus and its provisions.

Course number and section

Risk Rating

Student phone #, e-mail address (print) Signature Date

Faculty Name Signature Date

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