A general overview of medieval Mediterranean art history will provide the opportunity to become familiar with cultural and artistic interchanges and connections between the Latin West, the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world. Students will also be equipped with basic information on the main materials and techniques used in the decorative arts and ornamentation of the Middle Ages.
The selection of academic texts and articles will provide a critical and historiographical perspective, equipping students with a methodological approach to art historical research and a basic awareness of formal and cultural categories such as figurative and aniconic, mimesis and abstraction, tradition and innovation, cross-cultural exchanges, centres and peripheries, centrality and marginality.
The selection of academic texts and articles will provide a critical and historiographical perspective, equipping students with a methodological approach to art historical research and a basic awareness of formal and cultural categories such as figurative and aniconic, mimesis and abstraction, tradition and innovation, cross-cultural exchanges, centres and peripheries, centrality and marginality.
teacher profile teaching materials
Through selected case studies (Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, San Vitale in Ravenna and the Great Mosque of Cordova, the Palatine Chapel in Palermo and San Lorenzo f.l.m. in Rome), an in-depth study of transcultural relationships between East and West in the 6th-13th centuries and among different visual, ornamental and esthetic languages will be provided.
Medieval Mediterranean Art History
Mandatory:
• Caskey, Cohln, Safran, Art of the Middle-Ages, 2022
o chap. 2: St Peter church, pp. 53-58;
o chap. 3: Six to mid-seventh century, Hagia Sophia, San Vitale
o chap. 4: Mid-seventh to late eighth century, Dome of the Rock, Damascus mosque
o chap. 7: Romanesque 1070 – 1170
Byzantine Art
Mandatory:
• Kitzinger, Byzantine art in the making, 1977
o ch. 5: The Justinian Synthesis
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• Kitzinger, Byzantine art in the making, 1977
o ch. 1: Ancient Art in crisis
Islamic Art
Mandatory:
• Ettinghausen, Grabar, Islamic art and architecture, 2001
o Chapter 2: Dome of the Rock, pp. 15-19; Damascus Mosque, pp. 22-26; Ibn Tulun Mosque and Kairouan mosque, pp. 30-36; Abbasids, pp. 51-59;
o Chapter 3: Omayyad Cordoba, pp. 81-98:
o Chapter 6: The Fatimids, pp. 187-213;
o Chapter 8: Islam out of Islam, pp. 291-302
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art, 1973
o Introduction
o 1. The Problem
o 3. The Symbolic Appropriation of the Land
o 4. Islamic Attitudes toward the Arts
o 8. The Formation of Islamic art
Facultative:
• Rosser-Owen Mariam, Islamic Art from Spain – 2010
o Intro
o Age of Empire
Ornament and Theory of art
Mandatory:
• Grabar, The Mediation of Ornament, 1992
o Preface
o Introduction
o Chap. I " A Theory of intermediaries in Art")
o Chap. III Geometry
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• Gombrich, Art and Illusion, 1960
o Preface
o Introduction. Psychology and the riddle of style
Facultative:
• Grabar Andrè, Les origines esthétique médiévale, 1992 (also available in Italian and Spanish translation)
o Préface
o Plotin
o L’intelligible
• Trilling, Ornament. A modern perspective, 2004
o Preface
o Chap. 1: How ornament works
Norman Sicily
Mandatory:
• Higgs and Booms, Sicily, culture and conquest, 2017
o Chapter 4, pp. 172-228;
o Chapter 5, pp. 229-245;
• Longo, Anzelmo, From Creation to Communication, Reviewing Art in Norman Sicily 2022;
• Kapitaikin, Norman Sicily and the stage of multiculturalism, 2017
• Longo, The Royal Palace 2010 (with Italian version including pics);
• Longo, The first Norman cathedral in Norman Palermo, 2018;
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• MWNF, Leone, Mauro et al. Siclulo-Norman Art Islamic Culture in Sicily, 2003
o Islamic Art in the Mediterranean: pp 15-34;
o Historical Artistic Intro: pp. 35-65;
o Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel: pp. 123-132;
o Martorana and San Cataldo: pp. 158-163;
o Cefalù: pp. 249-254;
o Cathedrals (Palermo and Monreale): pp 135-149;
o Favara Palace: pp.115-118;
o Norman Palaces: pp: 67-84;
o XIX century studies: pp. 85-86;
• Kitzinger, Byzantine studies, Norman Sicily, collection of essays:
o Cappella Palatina, arrangement of subjects, 1949, pp. 1001-1054
o Roger II mantle, 1950, pp. 1055-1062;
• Ćurčić, Some Palatine aspects of the Cappella Palatina, 1987;
• Bongianino, King’s Chapel, 2017;
• Grabar, Experience of Islamic Art at the Margins, 2005;
• Winkler, et al, Designing Norman Sicily, 2020:
o Introduction: pp. 1-21;
o Reilly, Roger II and Medieval Visual Culture, pp.23-46;
o Tronzo, The interplay of media: pp. 47-59;
Facultative:
• Longo, Forma e Sostanza, with pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite (in Italian) 2023;
• Nef, Companion to Medieval Palermo, essays:
o Di Liberto, Norman Architecture: pp. 139-194;
o Pezzini, Forma urbis: pp. 195-232;
• Higgs and Booms, Sicily, culture and conquest, 2017
o Frederick II and Nobiles Officinae, pp. 246-269;
• Longo, Idealizing medieval medierranean, 2018
• Armando, Role and perception of Islamic Art in Sicily, 2017;
• Bloom, Islamic (Fatimid?) Art in Sicily, 2008;
• Johnson, Episcopal and royal views in Cefalù, 1994;
• Kessler, Peter and Paul in Palermo (in Italian), 2010;
• Johns, Savage-Smith, The Book of Curiousities, Imago Mundi 55, 2003;
• Borsook, Messages in Mosaics, 1990;
• Peters-Custot, How Byzantine was Norman Sicily, 2018;
• Tranchina, Emir’s God, 2019
Programme
The course aims to provide students with a general background in the visual arts and ornament in the Medieval Mediterranean arena, retracing the main stages of historiography on the subject.Through selected case studies (Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, San Vitale in Ravenna and the Great Mosque of Cordova, the Palatine Chapel in Palermo and San Lorenzo f.l.m. in Rome), an in-depth study of transcultural relationships between East and West in the 6th-13th centuries and among different visual, ornamental and esthetic languages will be provided.
Core Documentation
Readings and bibliographyMedieval Mediterranean Art History
Mandatory:
• Caskey, Cohln, Safran, Art of the Middle-Ages, 2022
o chap. 2: St Peter church, pp. 53-58;
o chap. 3: Six to mid-seventh century, Hagia Sophia, San Vitale
o chap. 4: Mid-seventh to late eighth century, Dome of the Rock, Damascus mosque
o chap. 7: Romanesque 1070 – 1170
Byzantine Art
Mandatory:
• Kitzinger, Byzantine art in the making, 1977
o ch. 5: The Justinian Synthesis
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• Kitzinger, Byzantine art in the making, 1977
o ch. 1: Ancient Art in crisis
Islamic Art
Mandatory:
• Ettinghausen, Grabar, Islamic art and architecture, 2001
o Chapter 2: Dome of the Rock, pp. 15-19; Damascus Mosque, pp. 22-26; Ibn Tulun Mosque and Kairouan mosque, pp. 30-36; Abbasids, pp. 51-59;
o Chapter 3: Omayyad Cordoba, pp. 81-98:
o Chapter 6: The Fatimids, pp. 187-213;
o Chapter 8: Islam out of Islam, pp. 291-302
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art, 1973
o Introduction
o 1. The Problem
o 3. The Symbolic Appropriation of the Land
o 4. Islamic Attitudes toward the Arts
o 8. The Formation of Islamic art
Facultative:
• Rosser-Owen Mariam, Islamic Art from Spain – 2010
o Intro
o Age of Empire
Ornament and Theory of art
Mandatory:
• Grabar, The Mediation of Ornament, 1992
o Preface
o Introduction
o Chap. I " A Theory of intermediaries in Art")
o Chap. III Geometry
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• Gombrich, Art and Illusion, 1960
o Preface
o Introduction. Psychology and the riddle of style
Facultative:
• Grabar Andrè, Les origines esthétique médiévale, 1992 (also available in Italian and Spanish translation)
o Préface
o Plotin
o L’intelligible
• Trilling, Ornament. A modern perspective, 2004
o Preface
o Chap. 1: How ornament works
Norman Sicily
Mandatory:
• Higgs and Booms, Sicily, culture and conquest, 2017
o Chapter 4, pp. 172-228;
o Chapter 5, pp. 229-245;
• Longo, Anzelmo, From Creation to Communication, Reviewing Art in Norman Sicily 2022;
• Kapitaikin, Norman Sicily and the stage of multiculturalism, 2017
• Longo, The Royal Palace 2010 (with Italian version including pics);
• Longo, The first Norman cathedral in Norman Palermo, 2018;
Mandatory for non-attending students only:
• MWNF, Leone, Mauro et al. Siclulo-Norman Art Islamic Culture in Sicily, 2003
o Islamic Art in the Mediterranean: pp 15-34;
o Historical Artistic Intro: pp. 35-65;
o Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel: pp. 123-132;
o Martorana and San Cataldo: pp. 158-163;
o Cefalù: pp. 249-254;
o Cathedrals (Palermo and Monreale): pp 135-149;
o Favara Palace: pp.115-118;
o Norman Palaces: pp: 67-84;
o XIX century studies: pp. 85-86;
• Kitzinger, Byzantine studies, Norman Sicily, collection of essays:
o Cappella Palatina, arrangement of subjects, 1949, pp. 1001-1054
o Roger II mantle, 1950, pp. 1055-1062;
• Ćurčić, Some Palatine aspects of the Cappella Palatina, 1987;
• Bongianino, King’s Chapel, 2017;
• Grabar, Experience of Islamic Art at the Margins, 2005;
• Winkler, et al, Designing Norman Sicily, 2020:
o Introduction: pp. 1-21;
o Reilly, Roger II and Medieval Visual Culture, pp.23-46;
o Tronzo, The interplay of media: pp. 47-59;
Facultative:
• Longo, Forma e Sostanza, with pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite (in Italian) 2023;
• Nef, Companion to Medieval Palermo, essays:
o Di Liberto, Norman Architecture: pp. 139-194;
o Pezzini, Forma urbis: pp. 195-232;
• Higgs and Booms, Sicily, culture and conquest, 2017
o Frederick II and Nobiles Officinae, pp. 246-269;
• Longo, Idealizing medieval medierranean, 2018
• Armando, Role and perception of Islamic Art in Sicily, 2017;
• Bloom, Islamic (Fatimid?) Art in Sicily, 2008;
• Johnson, Episcopal and royal views in Cefalù, 1994;
• Kessler, Peter and Paul in Palermo (in Italian), 2010;
• Johns, Savage-Smith, The Book of Curiousities, Imago Mundi 55, 2003;
• Borsook, Messages in Mosaics, 1990;
• Peters-Custot, How Byzantine was Norman Sicily, 2018;
• Tranchina, Emir’s God, 2019
Attendance
36 hours, 18 classes, 3 per week, two on-site guided toursType of evaluation
The oral examination will consist of questions (3 to 5) relating to the topics covered in class and asked through the presentation and due recognition of an image among the slides presented during the course.