72170 - History and Criticism of Byzantine Art

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course students should be able to approach the study of Byzantine art, confront with a work of art and critically evaluate the historiographical literature.

Course contents

The course will be structured into an institutional section—focused, for time constraints, primarily on textbook-based learning—and a series of in-depth thematic lectures. The institutional component will examine the diachronic development of Byzantine art, from the Late Antique context of the foundation of Constantinople (330 AD) to the city's conquest by the Ottoman Turks (1453). Artistic expressions—across various media and beyond the now outdated distinctions between sculpture, painting, and the so-called minor arts—will be considered as reflections of the historical evolution of thought and taste throughout the long history of the Eastern Roman Empire. Particular attention will be paid not only to works produced in Constantinople, but also to those created beyond the capital, in regions where a distinctly Eastern Roman artistic tradition emerged and flourished. Beginning with a reflection on the status of the artwork and the image in Byzantium, monuments and artistic productions will be approached as historical sources, as vehicles of meaning, and as cultural indicators—each operating according to its own communicative and expressive codes.

The monographic section of the course will focus on ivory artistic production, from consular diptychs to Middle Byzantine caskets and icons. Special emphasis will be placed on the material itself, its relationship to sculpture in other media, its role in the evolution of the arts in Byzantium, and its ideological significance.

The course History and Criticism of Byzantine Art, together with the course History and Criticism of Medieval Art, forms part of an integrated program that aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted development of medieval artistic culture between the Mediterranean and Italy.

Readings/Bibliography

Reading list. Every student shall study one of the following books:

• N. Asutay Effenberger, A. Effenberger, Bisanzio. L'impero dell'arte, Torino, Einaudi 2019
•  E. C. Schwartz (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Art and Architecture, Oxford, Oxford University Press 2021
• E. Freeman, A. MacLanan (ed. by), Guide to Byzantine Art, Open Textbook Library, 2021 (available in OA)

 

Seminar lectures: further readings:

• R. Campini, Art from the Borders? Wolfgang Fritz Volbach and the Localization of a Group of Early Christian Ivory Pyxides in the Caucasus, in, Re-Thinking Late Antique Armenia. Historiography, Material Culture, and Heritage, ed. by A. Palladino, R. Campini, A. Moraschi, I. Foletti, Convivium. Supplementum 1, 2023, pp. 152–167.
  
• M.C. Carile,Ivory Production: Commerce, Culture and Power, in Ravenna and the Traditions of Late Antique and Early Byzantine Cratfsmanship: Culture, Labour, and Economy, Berlin - Boston, De Gruyter, 2020, pp. 115 - 152;
• C.L. Connor, The Color of Ivory: Polychromy on Byzantine Ivories, Princeton, 1998.
• A. Cutler, The Matter of Ivory and the Movement of Ideas: thoughts on some Christian Diptychs of Late Antiquity, in Objects in Motion: the Circulation of Religion and Sacred Objects in the Late Antique and Byzantine World, ed. by H.G. Meredith, Oxford 2011, pp. 57–71.
•  A. Cutler, P. Niewöhner, Towards a History of Byzantine Ivory Carving from the Late 6th to the Late 9th Century. in Mélanges Catherine Jolivet-Lévy, dir. S. Brodbeck, A. Nicolaïdès, P. Pagès, B. Pitarakis, I. Rapti, É. Yota, Travaux et mémoires 20/2, Paris 2016, pp. 89–108.
•  J. De Grossi Mazzorin, Artigiani dell’osso, avorio e palco. Ornamenti, utensili e giochi dalla preistoria al medioevo, Lecce 2011.
•  A. Eastmond, Consular diptychs, rhetoric and the languages of art in sixth-century Constantinople, «Art History», XXXIII, 5, 2010, pp. 742–765, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8365.2010.00780.x.
•  M. Flamine, Gli avori del «gruppo di Romano». Aspetti e problemi, «Acme», LXIII, 2, 2010, pp. 121–152.

Further readings related to the seminar will be provided during the course.

 

Additional readings (for students who have not attended classes):

• E. Kitzinger, Byzantine art in the making: main lines of stylistic development in Mediterranean art, 3rd-7th century, Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press, 1995.
  
• B. V. Pentcheva, Icons and Power: the Mother of God in Byzantium, University Park, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006.

Teaching methods

Generally, lectures will take place in class with the aid of visual materials. Occasionally lectures may take place in situ, with a direct discussion of certain works of art and in collaboration with collaboration with other colleagues.

Assessment methods

The final examination will verify the fulfillment of the following learning objectives:

• knowledge of the topics and of the critical methodology discussed in class or studied in the literature;
• ability to use critical tools when examining a given image;
• ability to understand one's own critical opinion in relation to the historiographical debate. This ability is based on the assumption that our critical opinion is inevitably conditioned by our cultural views.

The exam will be exclusively in the form of an oral examination, which is evaluated in %30. It will be based on the images discussed in the books provided in the reading list or in class.  Students should identify the works of art, demonstrate an understanding of their chronological, geographical and historical context, discuss their relationship with other works of art. For this reason, students are expected to bring their own books on the day of the exam.

Following the Alma Mater's guidelines, notably:

• the demonstration of an organic vision of the themes addressed in class or in books indicated in the reading list as well as of the critical use, command of oral expression and specific vocabulary, will be assessed with marks of excellence (28-30).
• mechanical and/or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, scarce ability of synthesis and analysis and/or the use of a correct but not always appropriate vocabulary will lead to discrete assessments (23-27).
• training gaps and/or inappropriate vocabulary - even in conjunction with a minimal knowledge of the subject - will lead to marks that will not exceed the minimum grade (18-22).
• training gaps, inappropriate vocabulary, lack of command of the bibliography discussed within the course will lead to negative evaluations.

Teaching tools

Exam materials and further readings can be found online on UNIBO Virtuale.

Reading lists and publications are available on Virtuale. They can serve as preparatory materials for the course and can be useful to fill any gap for those who have never had an approach to the Byzantine Art.

Students who are affected by learning disability (DSA) and in need of special tools to compensate it, are kindly requested to contact the Teacher, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Cristina Carile