Situated between India, Persia, and the Greco-Roman world, the region of greater Gandhara (stretching through parts of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan) produced artwork that blended influences and ideas from many cultures. Art historian Robert DeCaroli examines the origins of the region’s material culture, explores the ways imperial and religious power were displayed, and traces the role of trade in the exchange of ideas. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
The Church of Santa Maria Glorioso dei Frari, commonly known as Frari’s Church or the Church of the Frari, is a minor basilica in Venice, Italy. It has an unassuming façade, but don’t let that fool you: The church contains splendors from over 500 years of Venetian history, including works by Titian, Donatello, and Bellini. Italian Renaissance art expert Rocky Ruggiero delves into the church and the treasures inside. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
From the 8th to the 14th centuries, Andalusia—Spain under Muslim rule—flourished as an artistic, cultural, scientific, and intellectual hub for the Mediterranean world. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic artisans, translators, philosophers, architects, and scientists all contributed to a vibrant cultural exchange. Art historian Louisa Woodville discusses the region’s artistic legacy and this unique convergence of influences. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Did Thomas Cromwell, chief courtier of Henry VIII and architect of the English Protestant Reformation, resemble the pragmatic striver of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy or the sinister nemesis of the martyr Sir Thomas More in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons? Historian Jennifer Paxton uncovers the intrigues of Henry’s court, where religion, politics, bureaucracy, and sex were entangled in a dangerous mix that led Cromwell to follow his enemy.
The British passed it off as an unhappy disturbance, but to city leaders the March 1770 confrontation with Redcoats that left five Bostonians dead was a horrid massacre. Historian Richard Bell examines why the complicated story of the “affray on King Street” is even more intriguing than Paul Revere’s famous engraving of it has led us to believe.
The radical innovations made by European and American painters and sculptors between 1900 and 1960 forever altered the way we think about visual art. In a richly illustrated 5-session series, art historian Nancy G. Heller discusses major works by the period’s seminal painters and sculptors, emphasizing their broader socio-political and aesthetic contexts. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
In 1664, England decided to invade the Dutch-controlled city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in New Netherland. The British had dreams of empire, and the Dutch were in the way. But Richard Nicolls, the military officer who led the English flotilla, changed his strategy once he encountered Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland’s canny director general. Drawing on his new book, Taking Manhattan, author Russell Shorto reveals the founding of New York to be the result of creative negotiations that blended the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire.
The stone statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, were the largest representations of standing Buddhas in the world until their destruction by the Taliban in 2001. Historian Justin M. Jacobs delves into the history of the Bamiyan Buddhas, their construction and original purpose and function, and how they exemplified Buddhist civilization in Central Asia. He also examines their complex and surprising relationship with successive Muslim rulers of Afghanistan.
