Art History: Ancient Tombs and Temples

Topics examining the visual arts in the ancient world. Representative topics: Roman Art; Art and the Ancient Silk Road. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisite: ARTH 1016 or ARTH 1410.

Prereqs enforced by the system: ARTH 1016 or 1410; PACE students by permission and override

This course will introduce students to art of the ancient world with focus on the monumental architecture, painting, and sculpture of sacred spaces. We will study a selection of ancient tombs and temples and consider how they were woven into the fabric of the communities to which they belonged. Among the themes we will explore are visual expressions of sacred and secular power, how traditions of death and worship contributed to urban development in the ancient world, and the ways theology and devotion informed architecture and iconographic programs. We will investigate the following questions: what spaces did the gods and the dead occupy in ancient communities? What can we learn about the people in those communities from the location, use, and decorations of their sacred spaces? What mythologies were tied to these spaces when they were built and occupied? What stories have accumulated around those spaces and been carried into our contemporary world?

With the completion of this course, students will develop a familiarity with the styles and function of ancient art, focusing on the Mesopotamian, Mediterranean, and Western European regions. Students will also engage with specialist and academic texts. Writing assignments will encourage students to find ways in which the expressions of community, faith, and power from the ancient world are relevant to the contemporary spaces they occupy today.