- Department: History of Art
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
- See module specification for other years: 2022-23
The module introduces students to the buildings most commonly associated with domed features in late antiquity and the (European) early medieval period.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
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A | Semester 1 2023-24 |
This module will explore the various ways in which a particular architectural feature - the dome - could be used, both internally and externally, for specific symbolic purpose in the late antique and early medieval periods, from the Pantheon in Rome in the second century CE to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem at the end of the seventh century CE. Linking these widely varied structures (built in different ways to serve different functions among different cultures with different belief systems) are the domes, and in each case these have been constructed and decorated in ways that make it clear they were intended to make the heavens physically (yet symbolically) present on earth. This module is thus concerned to explore the issues underpinning this phenomenon, in terms of the construction of the domes, their scale, their varying contexts, the intentions of the patrons, and the responses elicited among those encountering them, and the possible impact of the structures on each other. Through formal and iconographic approaches the module will, therefore, raise wide-ranging questions about the role of architecture in late antique, early Christian and early Islamic cultures; about ways of engaging with the architectural features in sacred contexts; and with the decoration associated with such features.
By the end of this module, students should have an understanding of:
The architectural feature of the dome in late antiquity and the early medieval period
The ways in which architecture can function symbolically
How to assess such symbolic potentials
The ways in which symbolic vocabularies can be adopted, appropriated and re-articulated by different cultures across Europe and the Levant
Task | % of module mark |
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Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
Task | % of module mark |
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Essay/coursework | 100 |
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