The course will examine the art and culture of the late Byzantine Empire throughout what has been termed the Byzantine Commonwealth.  Chronologically it will examine the period from 1204, when the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople through to 1453 when the Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks.  It will look at the art and culture found in Byzantium, Greece, Mount Athos, Cyrus and the Levant, Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia, Crete and Renaissance Europe.  It will examine the art of icons, murals, mosaics, applied arts, both secular and ecclesiastic, precious metal work and embroideries.  It is a critical examination of the art of the age of spirituality, when the art of the late Middle Ages in Eastern Europe met the Renaissance art of the West. 

By the end of this course, you should be able to

1. Analyze many forms of Byzantine medieval art and understand them within an art historical context.
2. Use specific examples to explain key concepts, themes and theories in Byzantine Art
3. Think, write and argue with these key concepts, themes and theories.
4. Reflect on and discuss your own learning as it relates to the subject matter of the course.
5. Select and combine materials on a topic currently relevant to Byzantine art and
6. present them in a coherent fashion in a team environment.
7. Understanding the art of the Byzantine Commonwealth within a broader art historical context.

Essay 3000 words (50%)

Tutorial paper and presentation 2000 words (20%)

Visual test (20%)

Tutorial participation (10%)

Three contact hours a week in lectures and tutorials plus graduate workshops

Thomas F. Mathews, The Art of Byzantium, Everyman, London 1998

Robin Cormack, Byzantine Art, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000

Lyn Rodley, Byzantine Art and Architecture: An introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994

Cyril Mango, The art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 1972