KUN2306E – Art and visual culture of the Middle Ages

In this course, we work on artworks produced in Europe during the millennium we conventionally call the Middle Ages (ca. 500 to ca 1500) from the perspective of visual and material culture. We will investigate the way in which objects made sense to their original beholders by virtue of their visual and material qualities.

We will review medieval theories of vision, visuality, materiality, and mobility. Moreover, we will discuss the perception, reception, and use of images in various religious settings, from Norwegian stave churches to convents on the European continent. The discussions concern art works in various media, with special emphasis on wall paintings and polychrome sculpture.

The course is taught as a combination of lectures, seminars, and field trips.

When you have completed this course, you:

• understand some concepts of vision and visuality as they were perceived in the Middle Ages, and you have learnt to apply them in the interpretation of medieval images.
• have studied how mobility and migration of humans and objects is crucial in the understanding of changes in material culture.
• are trained in recognizing and analyzing the various dimensions of signification that medieval images communicated to their beholders, not merely as illustrations of textual sources, but primarily as objects that carry meaning through their inherent visuality and/or materiality.
• understand how contemporary theoretical thinking related to visual culture and material culture is relevant to the study of medieval images.

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The course is taught in 2-hour sessions twice a week during two periods (24 hours in all).

Four of these sessions will be fieldtrips / excursions.

We expect students to meet prepared for classes and to participate actively.

Mandatory activities:

1. Minimum 60% attendance is required for the lectures/seminars
2. Oral presentation, individual, topic to be assigned.

Portfolio, consisting of 3 shorter essays.

You submit your assignment in the digital examination system Inspera. Read about how to submit assignments in Inspera.