Module description
The aim of the module is to introduce students with little or no previous knowledge of the world of Byzantium to its culture, rich artistic heritage and the latter's significance and impact.
Among the subject matter presented and discussed will be important excavated archaeological sites, surviving structures which often preserve their sculptural and/or monumental decoration (churches with frescoes/mosaics, monasteries, fortifications, houses, etc.) and artefacts used in devotional practices and everyday life (ivory and painted panels, enamels, lead seals...). The chronological coverage stretches from the foundation of the new capital city of Constantinople in the 4th century to the final fall of the Byzantine empire to the Ottomans in the 15th. The geographical coverage is equally broad, encompassing the Italian, Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean and parts of the Levant.
Assessment details
1 x 2,000 word essay (100%)
Teaching pattern
10 x 2-hour lectures (weekly); 10 x 1-hour seminars (weekly)
Suggested reading list
Introductory Reading
- R. Cormack, Byzantine art, OUP (Oxford 2000).
- J. Herrin, Byzantium: the surprising life of a medieval empire, Penguin (London 2007)
- R. Loverance, Byzantium, British Museum Press (London 2004)
- J. Lowden, Early Christian and Byzantine art, Phaidon Press (London 1997)
- T.F. Mathews, The art of Byzantium, Everyman Art Library (London 1998)
- L. Rodley, Byzantine art and architecture. An introduction, CUP (Cambridge 1994)
- D. Stathakopoulos, A short history of the Byzantine empire, IB Tauris (London 2014)