What makes art “European”? This fundamental question accompanies our survey of the different artistic traditions that emerged around the Mediterranean for more than 25,000 years, from prehistoric times through antiquity to the end of the medieval era. The course will challenge a view of art as the product of different monolithic “civilizations” that progressed in isolation from another. Instead, we will consider how a diversity of artistic cultures emerged through constant exchange and borrowing from one another. Readings, lectures, assignments and discussions will encompass a wide range of art and architecture from a “Europe” with constantly fluid and shifting borders. Issues of gender, race, colonization, and trade in the art of the ancient and medieval eras will also be addressed; in addition, we will explore how the art of the past has constantly been reimagined to fulfill more recent artistic and political ideologies. Students will practice the fundamentals of art history, including the skills of written and oral visual analysis in style, iconography, materials, and technique. This course is open to everyone, and no previous background in art or art history is required.
- Professor: Samuel Luterbacher