History of Art & Architecture

Alexander the Great in Manuscript Arts from the Medieval to the Early Modern Periods

mlillywhite@middlebury.edu — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:52:30 +0000

Alexander the Great in Manuscript Arts from the Medieval to the Early Modern Periods HARC 0701 mlillywhite@mi… Mon, 07/15/2024 - 10:52 Tutorials Classics History History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2025 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This tutorial course is going to dwell on a single figure—Alexander the Great, or Iskandar Maqdūnī (the Macedonian) as he is known in Persian—in select manuscripts produced across Central Asia and Central Europe in the medieval (1000-1500) and early-modern (1450-1750) periods. Alexander was significant in different ways to different dynasties administering different regions and in different eras. Different versions of his biography had different appeal, and at different times. By associating themselves with the hero, different rulers emphasized different facets of Alexander in their patronage of manuscripts.

In addition to being a part of popular culture and common knowledge for millennia, Alexander’s recounted exploits have particularly resonated with royals and nobles sitting in English through Indonesian courts. The course highlights a few select illustrated texts—produced between the 13th through 16th centuries—in Greek, French, Latin, Armenian, Turkish, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. It is essential to consider each text within its own tradition, but placing them together also allows for a broader geographic and chronological scope that can also produce interesting comparisons of cross-cultural and trans-imperial significance.

Sessions will explore the interplay of a narrative’s ancient (often imagined) past taking place in the Greek Empire (ca. 4th century BCE), with the accreted layers of time periods in which the illustrated text is produced, read, or seen. Dwelling on Alexander’s reception in various courts and dynasties professing Christian and Islamic confessions (Franco-Flemish, Italian, Byzantine, Mongol, Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal, Abu’l-Khairid [Uzbek]), the course challenges the binaries of east and west, Christianity and Islam, through the universal appeal of the famous world conqueror. It will be of interest to students of literature, art history, religious history, culture and translation studies, medieval and early modern cultures, European and West/Central/South Asian history.

Sample Topics

Alexander as interpreted in the oldest texts and contexts: Greek, Syriac, Latin language sources, Biblical and Qur’anic versions.
New Persian and Old French—European Medieval traditions (13th-14th centuries) and early Persian literary versions (in the Shahnama, ca. 1010)
Alexander in the Byzantine and Mongol realms (13th-14th centuries.
Alexander in the Islamicate (Ottoman, Iranian, and Central Asian) realm (15th century), Turkish and Persian versions.
Alexander in the Islamicate (Ottoman, Iranian, and Central Asian) realm (16th century), Turkish and Persian versions.
Why Alexander? The appeal of superheroes.
Trip to the Weston Library to view manuscripts ((European and Turco-Persianate copies of the Alexander Romance).
Trip to British Library in London to view Old French Alexander manuscripts owned by Henry VIII, and Persian manuscript versions.

The Printing Revolution

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

The Printing Revolution HIST 0486 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials English & American Literature History History of Art & Architecture Literary Studies Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

Before the Internet, there was the printing press. Exploited by some as an engine of reform, and condemned by others as the end of knowledge itself, ‘the art of artificial writing’ had revolutionary consequences for Europe. From its arrival in the 1440s, we find entrepreneurs using fonts to imitate manuscripts, but in numbers never attainable by the scribes that preceded them. During the Reformation, the technology was put to ideological ends by both establishment and anti-establishment authors. Printing also left its mark on language and literature: in the earliest English printed books we find editors grappling with a multiplicity of dialects that eventually becomes standardized, while some poets actively shunned the medium, seeing it as inherently prone to error. This course includes an introduction to the practical study of books as objects: how they were made, and how we interpret the variety of fonts and marginalia found in them. Students will have the opportunity to work with the rich resources on offer both through the Bodleian libraries and within our own collection of early printed books and manuscripts in the Feneley Library.

Culture and Society in Later Renaissance Italy

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Culture and Society in Later Renaissance Italy HIST 0270 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries the Italian peninsula saw war, pestilence, political revolution, profound economic and social disruption; but also truly outstanding developments in scholarship, art and literature. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo (to name only two) would have been remarkable in any age, but their achievements were founded on the wealth, wars, patronage and politics of Medici, popes and French kings. This course focuses on primary sources of the era (including texts in translation) that include works by Machiavelli, Castiglione and Vasari. It will introduce you the most up to date research that demonstrates how our understanding of the Renaissance continues to be reshaped by advances in scholarship. This course will also explore how certain prejudices and historically anachronistic narratives prove particularly pervasive, and will provide a full historiography of the phenomenon of the Renaissance in Italy.

The Northern Renaissance

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

The Northern Renaissance HARC 0900 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This tutorial explores northern European art between c. 1400-1600 and looks at factors such as exchange, gift giving and trade that led to stylistic cross-currents between North and South. You will encounter a variety of mediums such as illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, caskets (alongside paintings, sculpture and architecture), and artists that you study will include Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grunewald and Hieronymous Bosch.

HARC Special Topic

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

HARC Special Topic HARC 0700 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

It is often possible to arrange teaching in the History of Art and/or Architecture beyond the tutorials listed. This provides the opportunity to explore a field in depth, through one-to-one tutorials and writing weekly essays.

This will usually be of interest to students who have already taken classes in the field, and have a specific interest that they wish to pursue, and/or a specific requirement that they need to fulfil.

Please note that this is subject to agreement by both the programme and the applicant’s home institution. Applicants interested in this possibility should contact the Senior Tutor directly.

Viking Archaeology

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Viking Archaeology HARC 0350 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

In AD 793, a band of pagan pirates attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, sending shock waves through the Christian world. This attack would enter history as the first recorded Viking attack, but who were the Vikings? Were they the bloodthirsty pirates depicted in monastic chronicles and annals? Or is this a biased view, and is the image of daring explorers and farmers who can be credited with the colonisation of Iceland and the discovery of the Americas more accurate? This course will take a broad-brush overview from the North Atlantic to the trade routes through Russia towards Constantinople, and focus on the archaeology of trade, piracy, ship-building and colonisation. Although the emphasis of the course is archaeological, attention will also be given to the importance of interdisciplinary approaches, in particular the relationship between archaeological and historical material. Key sites to be discussed may include Jelling, Hedeby and Trelleborg, all Denmark; York, Repton, Ingleby and Torksey, all England; and, closer to home, the suspected Viking mass-grave underneath St John’s College in Oxford. Associated places to visit include metalwork and a runestone at the Ashmolean Museum, in Oxford, and the early medieval gallery at the British Museum in London.

Early Medieval European Archaeology

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Early Medieval European Archaeology HARC 0340 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

The period between the 4th and 7th centuries AD saw the transformation of the old Roman Empire into a new world occupied by different ‘peoples’ – Angles, Saxons, Franks and Visigoths, to name a few examples – arriving in western Europe from the Black Sea region and northern Germanic world as the result of large-scale migrations. The customs of these ‘barbarians’ were frequently described in some detail in late Roman historical sources. Up until the middle decades of the twentieth century, early medieval archaeology was largely concerned with seeking to identify these ethnic groups – often seen as the forerunners of medieval nation-states – in the archaeological record, although in more recent years theoretical approaches to this period have been revolutionised. This course critically examines the available evidence, analysing the relationship between material culture and ethnicity, and questioning to what extent this period really did represent the beginnings of medieval Europe.

Key sites may include the burial ground of Sutton Hoo in East Anglia, the migration-period cemeteries in Kent, the Anglo-Saxon settlements at Mucking or West Stow, Helgö in Sweden, or the settlement of Vorbasse in Denmark. In Oxford the Ashmolean Museum has some relevant collections, and the Staffordshire Hoard gallery in Birmingham is about an hour away by train. The British Museum in London also has relevant material.

Sample reading:

Annaert, R. 2012. The very beginning of Europe? Cultural and social dimensions of early-medieval migration and colonisation (5th-8th century): archaeology in contemporary Europe. Flanders Heritage Agency.

Geary, P. 2002. The Myth of Nations: the medieval origins of Europe. Princeton University Press.

Halsall, G. 2007. Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568. Cambridge University Press.

Hamerow, H. 2004. Early Medieval Settlements: the archaeology of rural communities in north-west Europe 400-900. Oxford University Press.

Hamerow, H., Hinton, D. and Crawford, S. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology. Oxford University Press.

Moreland, J., 2000. ‘Ethnicity, power and the English’, in B. Frazer and A. Tyrell (eds), Social Identity in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland, 23-51. Leicester University Press.

Nicolay, J. A. W. 2014. The Splendour of Power. Barkhuis.

Wickham, C. 2005. Framing the early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800. Oxford University Press

The Prehistoric British Isles

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

The Prehistoric British Isles HARC 0320 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This tutorial examines the later prehistoric landscapes of the British Isles. The British Isles are dotted with preserved remnants of its later prehistoric past, including monumental ritual structures of the Neolithic such as the world-famous site of Stonehenge, Bronze Age funerary barrows and the surviving earthworks of Iron Age hillforts. Taking the work of some of Britain’s leading prehistoric archaeologists as starting point, this course looks at some of the major changes that took place during this period, such as the transformation from the ritual and funerary landscapes of the later Neolithic and early Bronze Age to the agricultural landscapes of the middle and later Bronze Age, and the emergence of more regionalised and isolated communities during the Iron Age. This course furthermore provides students with the necessary knowledge to appreciate fully some of the more spectacular later prehistoric landscapes and sites in southern Britain, such as the Stonehenge area and the sites along the prehistoric Ridgeway, which are easily reached on a day trip from Oxford. Key sites include Stonehenge and Durrington Walls, Avebury, the prehistoric sites of the Ridgeway, and the well-preserved archaeological remains on Dartmoor. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford also has some relevant collections.

Sample reading

Bradley, R. 2007. The prehistory of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press.

Cunliffe, B. 2012. Britain Begins. Oxford University Press.

Darvill, T. 2010. Prehistoric Britain. 2^nd ed. Batsford.

Parker Pearson, M. 2013. Stonehenge: exploring the greatest Stone Age mystery. Simon and Schuster.

Pollard, J. 2008. Prehistoric Britain. Blackwell Publishing.

Early Human Archaeology

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Early Human Archaeology HARC 0310 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History of Art & Architecture Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This tutorial examines human origins and the archaeology of early hunter gatherers. How did humanity evolve, and spread to colonise the globe from its tropical African roots? How did early human societies function before the start of agriculture, some 10,000 years ago? How did different groups (and even species) of early humans co-exist, and what happened when they met? These questions stand central to this introductory course in human evolution and early hunter-gatherer societies. Taking a global perspective and drawing extensively on both archaeology and anthropology, it addresses the specific challenges of Palaeolithic archaeology, embracing new developments in method and theory. Possible key sites include Swanscombe, Boxgrove and Creswell Crags in England, the Neandertal in Germany, Altamira in Spain, Lascaux in France, Blombos Cave in South Africa and Hadar in Ethiopia.

This tutorial will also include visits to the Palaeolithic collections at the Ashmolean Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum, both a short walk from St Michael’s Hall.

Sample reading:

Coward, F., Hosfield, R., Pope, M. and Wenban-Smith, F. 2015. Settlement, society and cognition in human evolution: landscapes in mind. Cambridge University Press.

Papagianni, D., Layton, R. and Maschner, H. 2008. Time and change: archaeological and anthropological perspectives on the long-term in hunter-gatherer societies. Oxbow.

Pettitt, P. and M. White. 2012. The British Palaeolithic: hominin societies at the edge of the Pleistocene world. Routledge.

Stringer, C.B. 2006. Homo Britannicus: the Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain. Allen Lane, London.

Stringer, C.B. 2012. The Origin of our Species. Penguin Books, London.

Archaeological Method and Theory

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Archaeological Method and Theory HARC 0300 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History History of Art & Architecture Sociology/Anthropology Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This tutorial is an introduction to archaeological method and theory. How do archaeologists work? What methods did they employ traditionally, and how have recent developments in remote sensing techniques such as LiDAR revolutionised field exploration? How do archaeologists then ‘translate’ the mass of data gathered in the field into a coherent story about the past, and how have such theoretical and interpretative frameworks changed over time? Can archaeological theory really help us to elucidate the past, or does it tell us more about contemporary trends in philosophy? This course provides an overview of archaeological investigation practices as well as the main developments in theoretical thinking that have taken place since the middle decades of the 20th century, and will provide students with a critical understanding of archaeological method and theory necessary to understand the discipline.

Sample reading

Barker, P. A. 1993. Techniques of Archaeological Excavation. 3^rd ed. Batsford.

Berger, A. A. 2014. What objects mean: an introduction to material culture. Left Coast Press.

Bintliff, J. and Pearce, M. 2011. The Death of Archaeological Theory? Oxbow.

Carver, M. 1987. Underneath English Towns: interpreting English archaeology. Batsford.

Carver, M. 2009. Archaeological Investigation. Routledge.

Johnson, M. 2010. Archaeological Theory: an introduction. 2^nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell.

Lucas, G. 2012. Understanding the Archaeological Record. Cambridge University Press.

Wiseman, J. and El-Baz, F. (eds), Remote sensing in archaeology. Springer.