| Unit name | Religious Art (Reflective Art History Unit) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HART30008 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Cervantes |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History of Art (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit explores the nature and development of religious imagery in medieval art, focusing in particular upon Central Italy between 1205, the year in which the San Damiano crucifix spoke to St Francis of Assisi, and the death of Fra Angelico in 1455. There will be an emphasis on understanding the images in context: historical, physical, ethical, theological, and liturgical. The unit aims to investigate a key period in the history of medieval art in a key region, explored through some of its central images. By the end of the unit, the early developments in the direction of both the Renaissance and the Reformations will have been discerned and explored in depth and detail.
On successful completion of this unit students will have (1) developed a detailed knowledge and critical understanding of religious imagery in medieval art; (2) in-depth understanding of crucifixion imagery from central Italy 1205-1455; 3) detailed and critical understanding of the historical, physical, ethical, theological, and liturgical contexts of this art; (4) demonstrated the ability to identify and evaluate pertinent evidence/data in order to illustrate/demonstrate a cogent argument. Additionally, as part of a level H/6 unit, students will be expected to (5) display high level skills in evaluating, analysing, synthesising and (where apt) critiquing material and ideas..
1 x 2-hour seminar per week.
1 x 24 hour take-home examination. The extended form of this unseen assessment provides the opportunity to assess the depth and detail of students’ understanding and attainment of ILOs (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) at level H/6.
• Belting, Hans, The image and its Public in the Middle Ages: Form and Function of Early Paintings of the Passion (New York: A.D. Caratzas, 1990). • Cannon, Joanna, ‘The Era of the Great Painted Crucifix’, Renaissance Studies, 16 (2002), 571-81. • Derbes, Anne, Picturing the Passion in Late Medieval Italy: Narrative Painting, Franciscan Ideologies, and the Levant (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). • Derbes, Anne and Sandona, Mark, The Cambridge Companion to Giotto Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). • White, John, Art and Architecture in Italy 1250-1400, 3rd edn (New Haven; Yale University Press, 1993).
