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University of Manitoba
School of Art

This course will follow the tradition of Christian art and architecture in the eastern Mediterranean from its very beginnings until the 11th century. Initially, we will be concerned with the appearance of a specifically Christian art within the Roman Empire. From the early 4th century, when Christianity gained first acceptance and gradually official status within the Empire, we will increasingly focus on imperial patronage. Rome will first draw our attention, but by the 6th century we will be firmly focussed on the newly founded eastern capital of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire, which developed along lines clearly distinct from the west. Three principal themes will interweave through this material: the use of art to construct social identity; the nature and function of religious images (icons); and the legitimization of political authority through the patronage of art and architecture.

Course evaluation will be based on an in-class slide test, an essay, and a final exam. The slide test will cover material seen in class, and the final exam will be based on both the course lectures and the assigned readings.

1. Slide Test (25%). To be held in class in October, date TBA, it will cover all of the material we have covered thus far. There will be a slide review available in the library a week prior to the test. Students will be expected to answer short questions on subject matter, medium, social context and date, as well as slightly more challenging questions on the significance of the work.
   
   
2. Essay (40%). The essay will be on a work of art or topic of the student's own choice. The subject should have a direct bearing on material covered in the course. An essay proposal must be submitted in October, date TBA. It should be typed and should include a working title for your essay, a short, one-paragraph description of your topic, and enough of a bibliography, including both books and journal articles, to prove that there are enough resources available for such a topic. The essay proposal will be worth 5% of the essay grade. Students are encouraged to discuss their topics with me prior to research and writing, and if you are having trouble selecting a topic, I will be glad to help. Topics should not be too general; rather they should focus on a specific work, patron, iconographic subject, technical subject, a closely related group of works or some other tightly defined theme or question. Notes (either footnotes or endnotes) should be used, and a full bibliography should be provided at the end of the essay. Notes and bibliography should give evidence of library research, including both specialized books and scholarly articles. Searches on Bison, in the library stacks, in journal indexes and on CD-ROM journal indexes are all recommended. Xeroxes of the principal images referred to in the essay should also be appended. Proper presentation, including notes, bibliography, double spacing and accompanying images, will be worth 5% of the essay grade. The essay should be aproximately 3,000 words long (or roughly 10 pages) and should be typed and double spaced. It is due in class in November, date TBA (late papers are subject to penalty, and will not be accepted after 30 Nov.).
   
   
3. Final Exam (35%). This will consist of slide questions, as on the Slide Test, plus short essay questions. There will be a slide review available in the library a week prior to the exam.

Plagarism and/or cheating in essays and exams will result in an automatic grade of 0%, and the incident will be reported to the authorities, who may impose additional penalties (see p. 23 of the Undergraduate Calendar). FYI: Voluntary withdrawal date is 15 Nov.

F - The essay shows an unacceptable grasp of the topic.

D - The essay shows confusion about basic ideas and serious writing and/or organizational problems.

C - The essay shows a basic knowledge of the topic but is poorly organized, inadequately researched, probably contains numerous errors of fact.

C+ - The essay shows a basic knowledge of the topic but lacks evidence of thoughtfulness or thoroughness and may not be carefully organized or have enough specific detail or documentation.

B - The essay shows a good knowledge of the topic but lacks depth in analysis or research and offers no original thought.

B+ - The essay shows a good knowledge of the topic, is relatively free from error, and shows touches of penetrating research and/or originality.

A - The essay shows an outstanding grasp of the topic, is well researched and well written, and offers evidence of original and/or critical thought.

A+ - I cannot think how the essay could be easily improved.

There is a textbook for the course, Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994). As this does not cover the earliest part of the course material, André Grabar, The Beginnings of Christian Art 200-395 (London, 1967) will be used for this. The general coverage in these two book will be supplemented by more specialized readings. All the readings listed below will be found on reserve, either at the Architecture and Fine Arts Library (AFA), the library of St Paul's College (StP) or the Dafoe Library (D). Articles and some book selections will be available only as xeroxes (X), all of which will be available at the Architecture and Fine Arts Library.

Week 1: Introduction and overview of the course
READINGS
Robert Milburn, Early Christian Art and Architecture (Berkeley, 1988), pp. 1-18 [D, X]

Week 2: The Beginnings of Christian Art
READINGS
André Grabar, The Beginnings of Christian Art 200-395 (London, 1967), pp. 58-143 [AFA, X]
(X = Christian Painting and Sculpture before the Peace of the Church)

Week 3: The Catacombs; the Peace of the Church
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 2-57 [AFA, StP]
Richard Krautheimer, Three Christian Capitals: Topography and Politics (Berkeley, 1983), Ch. 1: Rome, pp. 6-40; Ch. 4: Rome Again, pp. 93-121 [AFA, X]

Week 4: Monumental Christian Architecture and Early Mosaics
READINGS
John Beckwith, Early Christian and Byzantine Art, 2nd edn (Harmondsworth, 1979), pp. 26-55 [AFA Ref, X]

Week 5: Narrative Art; Ravenna
READINGS
Ernst Kitzinger, Byzantine Art in the Making: Main Lines of Stylistic Development in Mediterranean Art, 3rd-7th Century (Cambridge, Mass., 1977), pp. 1-21 [AFA, StP]

Week 6: Sarcophagi, Sculpture and Style
READINGS
André Grabar, The Beginnings of Christian Art 200-395 (London, 1967), pp. 208-78 [AFA, X]
(X = A. Grabar, Catacomb Painting and Sarcophagus Reliefs)

Week 7: Midterm Slide Test & Early Manuscript Illumination
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 58-89
Kurt Weitzmann, Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination (New York, 1977), pp. 9-24 [AFA, X]

Week 8: Justinian and the "First Golden Age" of Byzantine Art
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 89-114
Anne M. McClanan, "The Empress Theodora and the Tradition of Women's Patronage in the Early Byzantine Empire," in The Cultural Patronage of Medieval Women, ed. June Hall McCash (Athens and London, 1996), pp. 50-72 [D, X]

Week 9: Devotion to Images
READINGS
Simon Coleman and John Elsner, 'The Pilgrim's Progress: Art, Architecture and Ritual Movement at Sinai', World Archaeology, 26, no. 1 (1994), 73-89 [X]
Hans Belting, 'Heavenly Images and Earthly Portraits: St. Luke's Picture and "Unpainted" Originals in Rome and the Eastern Empire', in his Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image before the Era of Art (Chicago, 1994), pp. 47-77 [AFA, X]

Week 10: Iconoclasm
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 115-31
Robin Cormack, Writing in Gold: Byzantine Society and its Icons (New York, 1985), Ch. 3 "Iconoclasm: the Imposition of Change," pp. 95-140 [AFA, StP, X]

Week 11: The Macedonian "Renaissance"
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 132-94

Week 12: Middle Byzantine Art and Architecture, Part I
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 195-234
Demus, Otto, Byzantine Mosaic Decoration: Aspects of Monumental Art in Byzantium (London, 1948), pp. 3-39 [AFA, StP]

Week 13: Middle Byzantine Art and Architecture, Part II
READINGS
Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 234-62

Numerous periodicals can be expected to contain scholarly articles on Byzantine art and architecture. Some of the most prominent (but not all of them) include: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Dumbarton Oaks Studies (a series of monographs), Byzantion, Cahiers archéologique (contains articles in English), Studies in Iconography (on order), Gesta, Art Bulletin.

Beckwith, John, The Art of Constantinople (London, 1961) Art production in all mediums in the Byzantine capital

Bryer, Anthony, and Judith Herrin, eds, Iconoclasm (Birmingham, 1977) Papers given at a symposium on Byzantine Iconoclasm

Cutler, Anthony, The Hand of the Master: Craftsmanship, Ivory and Society in Byzantium (9th - 11th Centuries) (Princeton, 1993)

-------, Imagery and Ideology in Byzantine Art (Aldershot, 1992) A collection of essays

------- Transfigurations: Studies in the Dynamics of Byzantine Iconography (University Park, 1975)

Davis-Weyer, Caecilia, Early Medieval Art, 300-1150 (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1971) A useful collection of contemporary documents relating to art; see also Mango

Demus, Otto, Byzantine Art and the West (New York, 1970) A wide-ranging historical survey of Byzantine influence on Italy and western Europe

Du Bourguet, Pierre, Early Christian Art (New York, 1971) An in-depth survey from the earliest beginnings up to the 4th century

Elsner, Jas, Art and the Roman Viewer: The Transformation of Art from the Pagan World to Christianity (Cambridge, 1995) A very interesting attempt, based on contemporary ekphrasis, to account for artistic change in the early Christian centuries (concentrates on function rather than style)

-------, Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph (Oxford , 1998) Attempts to chart the transformation in the art of the Roman Empire through the time of its religious conversion to Christianity

Epstein, Ann Wharton, Tokali Kilisi: Tenth-Century Metropolitan Art in Byzantine Cappadocia (Washington, DC, 1986)

Gough, Michael, The Origins of Christian Art (New York, 1973) A general book; coverage up to Iconoclasm

Grabar, André, Christian Iconography: A Study of its Origins (Princeton, 1968) Extremely useful for the early course material

Krautheimer, Richard, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture (Harmondsworth, 1975) Covers whole of the Christian world; detailed and reliable (see also Mango)

Maguire, H., Art and Eloquence in Byzantium (Princeton, 1981) Analyses art through various rhetorical approaches

-------, Earth and Ocean: The Terrestrial World in Early Byzantine Art (University Park, PA, 1987)

Mainstone, Rowland J., Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure and Liturgy in Justinian's Great Church (London, 1988)

Mango, Cyril, ed., Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453 (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1972) A useful collection of contemporary documents relating to art; see also Davis-Weyer

-------, Byzantine Architecture (New York, 1976) An excellent survey (see also Krautheimer)

Mathews, Thomas F., The Byzantine Churches of Istanbul: A Photographic Survey (University Park, 1976)

-------, Byzantium: From Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York, 1998) A recent short thematic overview, with chapters on Constantinople, icons, secular art, churches and their decoration, etc.

-------, The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art (Princeton, 1993) An interesting but overstated re-evaluation of imperial influence on early Christian imagery; see the excellent review by Peter Brown in Art Bulletin, vol. 77 (1995), 499-502

-------, The Early Churches of Constantinople: Architecture and Liturgy (University Park and London, 1971) An almost unique and certainly exemplary treatment of how the design of Byzantine churches depends on how they functioned

Pelikan, Jaroslav, Imago Dei: The Byzantine Apologia for Icons (Princeton, 1990) A theoretical approach by a prominent historian of theology

Revel-Neher, Elisabeth, The Image of the Jew in Byzantine Art (Oxford, 1992)

Rice, David Talbot, Byzantine Art (Harmondsworth, 1935; rev. edn 1968) A medium-by-medium survey

Rodley, Lyn, Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia (Cambridge, 1985)

Runciman, Steven, Byzantine Style and Civilization (Harmondsworth, 1975) Not a survey of monuments, but rather a broad cultural treatment

Safran, Linda, ed., Heaven on Earth: Art and the Church in Byzantium (University Park, 1998) An exciting recent series of essays on Constantinople, Byzantine theology and various aspects of church architecture and imagery

Simson, Otto von, Sacred Fortress: Byzantine Art and Statecraft in Ravenna (Chicago, 1948) The architecture and mosaics of Justinian's reign (esp. Ravenna), set into a political and intellectual context

Stevenson, J., The Catacombs: Rediscovered Monuments of Early Christianity (London, 1978) Creation, function, decoration and history are all covered

Vikan, Gary, ed., Illuminated Greek Manuscripts from American Collections, exh. cat. (Princeton, 1973) An exhibition catalogue with useful introductory essays on various aspects of Byzantine manuscript illumination

Weitzmann, Kurt, ed., The Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, 3rd to 7th Century, exh. cat. (New York, 1979) Imperial, pagan, domestic, Jewish and Christian perspectives presented through objects in a catalogue format

-------, et al., The Icon (New York, 1982) An informative collection of essays; covers all mediums

-------, Illustrations in Roll and Codex: A Study of the Origin and Method of Text Illustration (Princeton, 1947)

I have no reasonable evidence that the internet is yet as helpful as books and articles in academic journals for researching topics in Byzantine art and architecture. Web sites, in particular, can be started by anybody and are subject to no quality control. They should thus be used critically; if statements are made in them with no references, such as one would find in a footnote in a written source, attempts should be made to verify such information in reliable written sources. Much of the information on current websites, moreover, appears simply to point one towards further websites, and a great deal of time can be spent fruitlessly in aimless "surfing". Thus, besides being generally more reliable, library resources are also currently more time-efficient. The following sites, however, might prove helpful. Please let me know if you find any others of use, or if you find some listed below not to be of use:

Society for Late Antiquity
http://www.sc.edu/ltantsoc/

Byzantine Online Resources
http://www.doaks.org/byzrelatedsites.html

Internet History Sourcebooks Project (Byzantine Studies Page)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/

Web Sites of Interest to Byzantinists
http://www.sc.edu/bsc/#web

St Catherine's Monastery, Mt Sinai, home page:
http://interoz.com/egypt/Catherines.htm

Glenn Gunhouse, home page
http://members.tripod.com/~gunhouse/