Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: RADICAL BODIES IN MEDIEVAL ART

Department: Art History

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Saints, mystics, monsters, and demons: in the Middle Ages, these figures were defined both by their actions and by the distinct and diverse bodies that marked them as radical. This course investigates the representation and perception of bodies, human and otherwise, in medieval visual culture by focusing on bodies that were thought to be “different.” Bodies carried with them hidden anatomical structures, marks of social and cultural status, and, in the eyes of the Church, the sin that came with human sexuality. How did artists and craftsmen make the body’s multiple meanings and messages intelligible in images? From diagrams in medical manuscripts to sculptures adorning cathedral façades to body-part-shaped liturgical vessels, bodies are everywhere in medieval visual culture. We will pair these images and objects with medieval texts offering period insights into the nature and meanings of bodies, and consider them through a contemporary theoretical lens. By focusing on approaches to representing bodily differences and attitudes toward perceived difference, this course will place special emphasis on how medieval ideas about gender, sexuality, and race found expression in art objects. In addition to smaller assignments throughout the semester, this course will include a final paper / project. A prior HART course is recommended, but not required.