• Bacci Michele

The course offers a general introduction to the most recurrent narrative themes in medieval and modern iconography, relating to the stories of the Old and New Testaments. It will explore their meaning in relation to the texts and cultural phenomena to which they are connected, their origin and development in the arts of Byzantium and Western Europe, the processes of codification, as well as the emergence of unconventional visual formulations.

Knowledge of the most recurrent iconographic themes of narrative type in the arts of Western Europe and the East during the Middle Ages and the modern era; familiarity with bibliographic tools and available repertories for further study of the topic; acquisition of the historical-critical foundations of the discipline, which will be assessed in the written part of the exam and will enable students to approach the reading and analysis of the three volumes required for the oral part.

Students will be required to regularly attend the classes.

The students' individual work, which will be tested in the oral examination, will consist of a careful reading of the reference text (Caskey, Cohen and Safran, Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages), in such a way as to enable them to recognise and contextualise each of the works reproduced in the illustrative apparatus. Students will be also requested to learn the fundamental concepts discussed in the other two books.

Reference text: Caskey, Jill, Adam S. Cohen, and Linda Safran, Art and Architecture of the Middle Ages. Exploring a Connected World, Ithaca and London 2022.

Required additional readings:

Kessler, Herbert L., Experiencing Medieval Art, Toronto 2019.

Schmitt, Jean-Claude, Les images médiévales. La figure et le corps, Paris 2023.