HISTORY OF BYZANTINE ART

The course aims to illustrate the development of Byzantine art, from the foundation to the fall of Constantinople. The various forms of the Byzantine artistic language will be analyzed, highlighting the technical, stylistic and iconographic aspects of emblematic works of art. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between art, patronage and society.

At the end of the course students will be able to know and explain concepts and contents illustrated during the lessons; place Byzantine monuments and artefacts in their appropriate space-time and cultural framework; understand their relations with the Mediterranean productive and social context; describe their iconographic, stylistic, symbolic and material aspects, using correct terminology; make comparisons between similar or different Byzantine works of art in terms of typology, chronology and support.

According to the Dublin descriptors, students, at the end of the course, will demonstrate:

1) knowledge and understanding skills such as to reinforce those achieved in the first cycle; ability to elaborate and / or apply original ideas, in a research context.

2) ability to apply knowledge and understanding and ability to solve problems to new or unfamiliar issues, inserted in broader (or interdisciplinary) contexts connected to one's field of study;

3) ability to integrate knowledge and to formulate judgments on the basis of information that is not necessarily complete;

4) ability to communicate one's knowledge clearly and unambiguously to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors.

It is useful for students to be familiar with the main historical events that have characterized the Empire of Byzantium and related areas

Lectures will focus on the following topics:

-      The foundation of Constantinople and the genesis of Byzantine art

-        The age of Justinian

-        The cult of images: aesthetics, society and doctrine

-        The Age of Iconoclasm

-        The Macedonian renaissance

-        The age of the Comnenians and relations with the West;

-        Byzantium and its Neighbours: Cappadocia, Southern Italy, the Balkans

-        The age of the Paleologians

-        The power of images: the icons

N. Asutay-Effenberger – A. Effenberger, Bisanzio. L’Impero dell’arte, Torino: Einaudi, 2019, pp. 30-337.

-M. Della Valle, Costantinopoli e il suo impero. Arte, architettura, urbanistica nel millennio bizantino, Milano, Jaca Book, 2007, pp. 9-148.

- T. Velmans, La pittura bizantina: mosaici, affreschi, icone, miniatura, in Bisanzio, Costantinopoli, Istanbul, a cura di T. Velmans, Milano, Jaca Book, 2008, pp. 109-218.

- B. V. Pentcheva, Icone e potere: la madre di Dio a Bisanzio, Milano, Jaca Book, 2010, pp. 337.

For the specific terminology of Byzantine art: “Glossario”, in E. Concina, Le arti di Bisanzio. Secoli VI-XV, Milano, B. Mondadori, 2002, pp. 393-401.

For further insight students could consult: Enciclopedia dell’Arte Medievale (12 voll., Roma: Treccani, 1991-2002 [on-line: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ricerca/ enciclopedia-dell’arte-medievale/Enciclopedia_dell’_Arte_Medievale/

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).