080078 PS Case Study: Salvation Depicted: An Introduction to Byzantine Image Programs (2019W)

Course description: Since the publication of Otto Demus’ now-classic study Byzantine Mosaic Decoration: Aspects of Monumental Art in Byzantium in 1948, it has largely been assumed that the interior decoration of Byzantine and Byzantine-influenced churches of the post-Iconoclastic period (from the mid-9th century) is rather homogenous and conforms to a clear scheme with a fixed image program. While particular features – most notably a hierarchical order of horizontal zones moving from the human, via the life of Christ, up to the heavenly realm – can be understood as guiding principles, the evidence shows considerable variation and reveals that there was indeed room for elaboration on this general decorative concept. By looking at selected case studies, this course will investigate the interplay of tradition, innovation and adaptation in the image programs of post-Iconoclastic Byzantine churches on several levels: the individual iconographic themes represented, the question of image “cycles”, how images are situated in an architectural framework, and lastly how to read their function and meaning. We will ask if and how the Byzantine church and its decoration can be understood as a microcosm of the Christian universe and of the ritually commemorated path to salvation.
This course will provide a general introduction to Byzantine artistic and religious culture as revealed to us through extant material evidence and to a lesser extent textual sources. The focus will be on mainly monastic churches with surviving mosaic and/or fresco decoration located mostly on the Balkan peninsula, some of which have maintained their original function until today.

Methods: Students will be asked to analyze critically secondary literature and, where applicable, excerpts from primary textual sources in translation. Methods relevant to the investigation of individual topics include formal analysis, iconographic, stylistic and technical analysis, and assessing the state of preservation, as well as methodological approaches stemming from theology, cultural and social history and gender studies.
Goals: As a Fallstudie II/III the main goal is to train academic investigation in the field of art history and to provide students with practice in presenting the results of their research coherently in both verbal and written forms.