ARTH 3170 - Art and Perception in Medieval Byzantium

Course content focuses on the power of artistic forms molded for a Roman Empire, Christianized and reseated in Constantinople. Through lecture, discussions, oral reports, and written essays, images and structures reveal a co-mingling of religious and political spheres. We will explore Byzantine perceptions of experimentation, innovation, and maturation. Students will also analyze the effect of iconoclasm, a cataclysmic period of theological controversy, on models of patronage, visual expression and viewership.