ARTH3252: History of Early Christian Art in Context

This course will introduce students to Christian visual art from its evident beginnings (ca. 200) to the dawn of the early Middle Ages, attending to its transformation under imperial patronage. Working with both objects and texts, core themes include the continuity between Christian and pagan art of Late Antiquity, the influence of imperial ceremonies and style, the emergence of sacred icons, the development of Passion iconography, the influence of Islam, and the divergent styles, motifs, and theological perspectives on the validity and role of images from the Byzantine East to the early Medieval West.

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