History of Art 1A Art and Belief in Europe, 500 to 1700

Explore the relationship of art, power and belief through this introduction to art and from late antiquity to the Renaissance. History of Art 1A provides an introduction to Art History at university level. The lectures in History of Art 1 cover almost 1400 years of the history of art, from c.500 to c.1700, from the Early Medieval period to the Baroque. The course (though it follows a roughly chronological sequence) is not a chronological survey and does not pretend to provide comprehensive coverage of this vast and complex subject. Instead the work of prominent artists, important types, key periods and diverse geographies of art are selected to provide representative examples for study. All our teaching considers the visual arts as a reflection of the societies in which they were produced. This course addresses developments in European art (including Britain, Italy, France and Germany) from the rise of Christianity, through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, concluding with the religious upheavals of the early modern period. We look at the work of both early anonymous and later celebrated artists, such as Giotto, Jan van Eyck, Dürer, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and consider issues surrounding art and identity, gender, sexuality, nationality, religious and political belief as well as issues surrounding the art objects themselves, such as patronage, materiality, display and reception.   Credit level: 8 Year taken: Year 1 Undergraduate SCQF credits: 20