| Description: | This course explores the remarkable series of transitions that Western civilization underwent between the years 313 and 1400 CE, dates corresponding to Emperor Constantine's official acceptance of Christianity, and the imposition of humanistic culture. In culture, politics and society, this long period witnessed a reorientation of values and enormous shifts in the configuration of Europe. In the visual arts, efforts to interpret classical artistic language were flanked by innovative contributions from different cultures. As students study historical and literary sources, archaeology as well as architecture, sculpture and painting, they acquire a chronological map of the essential developments, learning to distinguish between eras, and to interrelate political, social, economic and cultural trends. Rejecting the popular notion of a "dark age" of culture in the Middle Ages, we shall emphasize the concept of historic evolution. Topics include: the Late Roman Empire, the Barbarian invasions, monasticism, medieval Christianity, the Crusades, the rise of the Italian city-states, the Black Death, and the roots of the Renaissance; Early Christian, Carolingian, Ottonian, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic Art. Italian developments and monuments receive special attention, and site visits in Florence and Tuscany form an essential component of the course. |