V & A ACADEMY FROM COURT TO CLOISTER: EUROPE 800-1050 V&A ACADEMY ONLINE
FROM COURT TO CLOISTER: EUROPE 800 - 1050
On this twelve-week online course, we will explore the visual arts between 800 and 1050, with the V&A’s abundant medieval collections as our inspiration.
In 800, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, became Emperor of the Romans. He, and the subsequent dynasty of Carolingian emperors, sought to revive Christian Antiquity, instigating what has been termed a renaissance. Assuming the imperial title in 962 the Saxon Ottonians also revered Antiquity and sought, for political ends, to emulate the aesthetics of the Byzantine Empire. Many Carolingian and Ottonian commissions were linked to imperial court patronage, frequently through the intermediary of monasteries, which became epicentres of craftsmanship and learning. In late 10th to mid-11th century England the visual arts flourished, influenced by Continental developments, with monasteries playing a vital role. By the 960s the influence of Iconoclasm had waned in Western Europe and monumental, three-dimensional sculpture became acceptable again.
The year 1000 was greeted with anxiety, and its passing with relief. The new millennium’s confident mood witnessed an emerging, centralized Western church, the most powerful organization of the high Middle Ages, dominated by monastic orders; some well-established, others, like the Cistercians, newly founded. Unprecedented investment was placed in church buildings, many inspired by aspects of surviving Roman monuments. The mighty Romanesque style will be explored, with case studies to highlight regional stylistic variation. V&A ACADEMY ONLINE
DR SALLY DORMER
Dr Sally Dormer is a specialist medieval art historian, with an MA in Medieval Art History and PhD on Medieval manuscript illumination from the Courtauld Institute. Sally has taught for the Art Fund, Arts Society, Art Pursuits, Cox & Kings, Ciceroni, Swan Hellenic, Gresham College, and was Dean of European Studies for two universities in Tennessee. COURSE PROGRAMME 14 January The Carolingians 10.15 Introduction Sally Dormer 10.30 The Historical Background 800-1050 Sally Dormer 12.00 Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance John McNeill 14.00 Carolingian Architecture John McNeill
21 January Carolingian Book Production 10.30 Carolingian Manuscript Illumination Sally Dormer 12.00 Case Study: The Utrecht Psalter Sally Dormer 14.00 Islamic Art in Europe Anna McSweeney 15.30 Spotlight: Fatimid Rock Crystal Ewer Anna McSweeney
28 January The Carolingian Empire And The East 10.30 Carolingian Metalwork Sally Dormer 12.00 The Crucifixion in Carolingian Art Sally Dormer 14.00 Iconoclasm and 9th-century Rome tbc
4 February Ottonian Art i 10.30 The Vikings Frances Parton 12.00 Ottonian Art and Power I: Emperor Otto III Henry Mayr-Harting 14.00 Ottonian Art and Power II: Emperor Henry II Henry Mayr-Harting 15.30 Spotlight: Carolingian and Ottonian ivories in the V&A Sally Dormer
11 February Ottonian Art ii 10.30 Ottonian Church Architecture Richard Plant 12.00 Bernward, Bishop of Hildesheim and Hitda, Abbess of Meschede: great patrons of Ottonian Art Henry Mayr Harting 14.00 The Origins and Aesthetic Ideals of Ottonian Art Henry Mayr Harting
18 February Invaders And The Impact Of Invasion 10.30 King Alfred and Anglo-Saxon Art c. 900 Meg Boulton 12.00 Early Medieval Textiles Alexandra Makin 14.00 Early Medieval Scandinavian Art and Architecture Frances Parton 15.30 Spotlight: Early English medieval embroideries in the V&A Helen Persson
25 February Byzantium 9th-11th Century 10.30 Byzantine Art 843-1050 Cecily Hennessy 12.00 Case Study: Hosios Loukas Cecily Hennessy 14.00 The Iconography of Imperial Power Cecily Hennessy 15.30 Spotlight: Two Last Judgement ivory panels in the V&A Meg Boulton 4 March Late Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts 10.30 The Monastic Reform Movement and the “Winchester” School Sally Dormer 12.00 Case Study: The Benedictional of St Ethelwold Sally Dormer 14.00 Drawing: Technique and Purpose in Anglo-Saxon Art Sally Dormer
11 March Late Anglo-Saxon Architecture And Sculpture 10.30 Anglo-Saxon Architecture Richard Plant 12.00 Late Anglo-Saxon Sculpture: Stone and Ivory Meg Boulton 14.00 The rise of the Vernacular Meg Boulton 15.30 Spotlight: The V&A’s Veroli Casket Cecily Hennessy
18 March The Emergence Of Romanesque Architecture 10.30 Historical background: Europe 1050-1200 Sally Dormer 12.00 Early Romanesque Architecture John McNeill 14.00 Case Study: St Philibert, Tournus John McNeill
25 March Relics And Reliquaries 10.30 Pilgrimage and the Cult of Relics John McNeill 12.00 Poitevin Architecture and Sculpture John McNeill 14.00 Mozarabic Art and Beatus of Liebana Rose Walker 15.30 Spotlight: Reliquaries in the V&A Michaela Zöschg
1 April Romanesque Burgundy 10.30 Burgundian Architecture and Sculpture Alexandra Gajewski 12.00 Case Study: Gislebertus and Autun Alexandra Gajewski 14.00 St Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercians Sally Dormer 15.30 Spotlight: End of Term Quiz Sally Dormer
Note: this programme is subject to change
V&A ACADEMY ONLINE
V&A Academy art history courses offer students sustained and rigorous engagement with key subject areas from the history of art. Drawing heavily on the V&A’s outstanding collections and bringing together world-leading experts, they are designed to give you a thorough overview, but also to spark your imagination and prepare you for further study.
Each week of this online course consists of three hour-long lectures. Lectures will be delivered live at the times below via Microsoft Teams, or available to view later in your own time. Additional weekly content may take the form of a curator talk, a guest lecture, an extended Q&A with your Course Director or an object spotlight session.
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