Mosaic of Christ washing the feet of the Apostles, Hosios Loukas monastery, Greece
In the Middle Ages, kings and peasants alike believed in the power of sacred images and spaces. To them, painted icons, illuminated manuscripts, golden reliquaries, and jewel-like cathedral interiors served as mediators between earth and heaven, leading the human spirit toward a vision of eternal life.
Art historian Judy Scott Feldman examines the art and architecture of the 1,000-year period between classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and its relationship to a society infused with faith and spirituality.
OCT 25 Early Christian and Byzantine Art
Transformation of ancient classical traditions to new Christian beliefs and practices in Rome and in the Greek-speaking areas of the Roman Empire. The Roman catacombs; Old St. Peters; Ravenna mosaics; Hagia Sophia; Constantinople; icons and iconoclasm; Hosios Loukas monastery.
NOV 1 Irish and Carolingian Illuminated Manuscripts
Sumptuous painted Bibles as precious objects of prayer, devotion, spiritual vision, and popular pilgrimage. The Lindisfarne Gospels and Book of Kells; Carolingian imperial Bibles and missals.
NOV 8 Romanesque Art
Great pilgrimage churches, sculptured portals, and jeweled reliquaries in service to the popular cult of the saints. Ste. Foi in Conques; St. Mary Magdalene, Vezelay.
NOV 15 Gothic Visions of Heaven
The Gothic cathedral’s marriage of stained glass, sculpture, and soaring sacred spaces.
4 sessions
World Art History Certificate core course: Earn 1 credit
