Christian Roots: Medieval and Renaissance Art & Science

Fall 2001 – Updated Syllabus

In this program we will explore Medieval and Renaissance (1100 to 1750) European culture through studies in art and science. We will examine trends that emerged in religion, medicine, and visual arts with interest in how these values have changed and/or remained the same through the centuries. In the fall, we will focus on the Middle Ages. In the winter, we will address the emerging Humanism that accompanies the Renaissance. The radical transformation of science and art from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance will be an important focus of this program. During the Middle Ages, Christian values and beliefs heavily influenced medicine and other emerging forms of science. Christian values also determined the look and function of art created during the Middle Ages. The church developed a code of representation that involved a complex iconography for Christian images; it also was the primary patron of artists until the High Renaissance.

Exploration and colonization of the "New World" resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of plants known, thus transforming taxonomy. Also new technology, such as the light microscope, allowed for a deeper understanding of the internal form and function of plants. During the Renaissance the Humanist obsession with science seeped into the arts as well. Science influences the visual arts in the form of study and portrayal of human anatomy; studies of nature through illustration; and the development of complex systems of optics and perspective. The sciences have a pervasive impact on what had been a strictly spiritual content in art. In the process, the roles of artists change from that of artisans to intellectuals. Science has its greatest impact on the way art is done -- in terms of perspective and observing nature and bodies, but it has less impact on content. Content moves in a variety of directions both humanistic (portraiture and historical paintings) and mythological. In the process art is liberated from strictly religious narratives because the field of science becomes more open.

This program investigates the following questions. How did Christianity shape the way medieval Europeans knew the world? How did the natural and supernatural world bear on the way they made sense of the world? What might we learn from medieval relations with nature that could bear on contemporary efforts to live more sustainably in the world? How did artists use imagery to give shape and meaning to the medieval world? What phenomena of the Middle Ages still appear in our contemporary culture? Does our understanding of the medieval person influence our life today? How does one research a period whose cultural products come from a specific set of beliefs, cultural customs, and practices, perhaps unknown to us? How does our understanding of the physical world influence our beliefs about our spiritual existence? How have these relationships changed from the Middle Ages, through the renaissance to the 21st century?

Faculty: Frederica Bowcutt, Lab II rm 3272, X 6744, bowcuttf@evergreen.edu Lisa Sweet, Sem rm 3168, phone X 6763, sweetl@evergreen.edu

Office hours for all faculty: Friday 9-10 am and by appt.

Book List:

Texts

Seminar Books

Stokstad, Medieval Art

 

Huizinga, The Autumn of the Middle Ages

Arber, Herbals

Collins, Medieval Herbals

Flanagan, Hildegard of Bingen

Weinsten & Bell, Saints & Society

McLean, Medieval English Gardens

Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millenium

Kors & Peters, Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700

Cosman, Fabulous Feasts

 

Weekly Schedule:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Open Lab

9 am- 1 pm Writing Workshops

SEM 3151 (FB) & 3153 (LS)

Workshops

See syllabus

9-10 am Faculty Office Hours

12:30-2:30 pm - All Group Mtg

Lecture Hall 4

 

Open

Studio

10 am-12 noon Seminar LabI 1051 (F) & 1059 (L)

3-5 pm - Seminars

LabIIrms 2207 (FB) & 2211 (LS)

2-4 pm Herb Walks

Meet @ Longhouse

 

1-4 pm All Group

Meeting – Lec Hall 2

  

Week 1 September 24-28

Seminar Readings: Huizinga, The Autumn of the Middle Ages

Lecture Readings: Stokstad, Medieval Art Chaps 1 and 2

Tues, Sept 25

12:30-2:30 pm Orientation

3-5 pm Seminar on Huizinga, The Autumn of the Middle Ages (Chaps 1-3)

Weds, Sept 26

9 am-4 pm Student Interviews (make an appt with your seminar leader)

Thurs, Sept 27

TBA Print Workshop

Fri, Sept 28

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Huizinga, The Autumn of the Middle Ages (Chaps 4-11)

1-4 pm Introductory Art History Lecture

Week 2 October 1-5

Seminar Readings: Arber, Herbals

Tues, Oct 2

12:30-2:30 pm Lecture on Herbals

3-5 pm Seminar on Huizinga, The Autumn of the Middle Ages (Chaps 12-14)

Weds, Oct 3

9 & 11 am Writing Workshops (Everyone attends/Group A papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Oct 5

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Arber, Herbals

1-4 pm Workshop with Herbalist Elise Krohn in Lab I rm 1047

BRING: an 8 oz jar, $2 for material costs, a tea mug, cookies or fruit to share, scissors or a knife and clean plant material of one of the following: nettles, red clover, sage (Salvia), oregano, bedstraw, or dandelion with root. Make sure you know the difference between dandelion and false dandelion.

Week 3 October 8-12

Seminar Readings: Collins, Medieval Herbals (read all except skim chapter 2)

Lecture Readings: Stokstad, Medieval Art Chaps 5 and 8

Tues, Oct 9

12:30-2:30 pm Lecture on Romanesque and Monastic Architecture

3-5 pm Seminar on Collins, Medieval Herbals

Weds, Oct 10

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group B papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Oct 12

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Collins, Medieval Herbals

1-4 pm Film: Sorceress (98 minutes + discussion with Caryn Cline)

Week 4 October 15-19

Seminar Readings: Flanagan, Hildegard of Bingen

Tues, Oct 16

12:30-2:30 pm Lecture on Images of Hildegard of Bingen’s Visions

3-5 pm Seminar on Flanagan, Hildegard of Bingen

Weds, Oct 17

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group A papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Oct 19

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Flanagan, Hildegard of Bingen

1-4 pm Film: Anchoress (108 minutes + discussion)

Week 5 October 22-26

Seminar Readings: Weinsten & Bell, Saints & Society

Lecture Readings: Stokstad, Medieval Art Chap 4

Tues, Oct 23

12:30-2:30 pm Lecture on Woodcuts

3-5 pm Seminar on Weinsten & Bell, Saints & Society

Weds, Oct 24

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group B papers)

2 –4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Oct 26

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Weinsten & Bell, Saints & Society

9 am-4 pm Mid-Quarter Check-In

Week 6 October 29-November 2

Seminar Readings: McLean, Medieval English Garden

Lecture Readings: Stokstad, Medieval Art Chaps 9 and 10

Tues, Oct 30

12:30-2:30 pm Lecture on Gothic Architecture

3-5 pm Seminar on McLean, Medieval English Garden

Weds, Oct 31

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group A papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Thurs, Nov 1 All Saint’s Day

Faculty Retreat

Fri, Nov 2

Faculty Retreat

10 am-12 noon Seminar on McLean, Medieval English Garden

1-4 pm Guest Lecture: Rebecca Chamberlain on Illuminated Manuscripts

Week 7 November 5-9

Seminar Readings: Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millenium

Tues, Nov 6

12:30-2:30 pm Discussion of Student Work (Bring Minimum of 6 prints)

3-5 pm Seminar on Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millenium

Weds, Nov 7

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group B papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Nov 9

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millenium

1-4 pm Lecture on Medieval Gardens

Sat, Nov 10

1-11pm Free Bach Festival @ Town Hall in Seattle (8th & Seneca)

Week 8 November 12-16

Seminar Readings: Kors & Peters, Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700 (Sections TBA)

Tues, Nov 13

12:30-2:30 pm Guest Lecture: Ann Storey – Images of Witches

3-5 pm Seminar on Kors & Peters, Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700

Weds, Nov 14

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group A papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Nov 16

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Kors & Peters, Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700s

1-4 pm Film: The Devils (103 minutes + discussion)

THANKSGIVING BREAK: November 19-23

Seminar Readings: Cosman, Fabulous Feasts

Week 9 November 26-30

Seminar Readings: Cosman, Fabulous Feasts

Lecture Readings: Stokstad, Medieval Art Chap 12

Tues, Nov 27

12:30-2:30 pm Lecture on Painting before Giotto

3-5 pm Seminar on Cosman, Fabulous Feasts

Weds, Nov 28

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (Everyone attends/Group B papers)

2-4 pm Herb Walk – Meet in front of the Longhouse

Fri, Nov 30

10 am-12 noon Seminar on Cosman, Fabulous Feasts

1-2 Herbology and Plant Identification Exam

2:15-4 pm Lecture on Giotto and Saint Fra Angelico

Sun, Dec 2 Medieval Women’s Choir Concert, Seattle

Week 10 December 3-7 DUE: Portfolios due on Weds, Dec 5 @ 5 pm

Tues, Dec 4

12:30-2:30 pm Art History Final Exam

3-5 pm Wrap-up Seminar

Weds, Dec 5

9 & 11 am Writing Groups (bring 7 copies of self evaluation)

5 pm Portfolios Due (leave in your seminar leader’s mail box or at their door)

Fri, Dec 7

12:30-2:30 pm Medieval Feast (recipes to be passed out) – Longhouse Cedar Room

1-4 pm Wrap-up Longhouse Cedar Room

 

 

Required Papers and Portfolio Materials

 

 

EVALUATIONS WEEK: December 10-14 Individual Conferences with Faculty

Please bring your faculty and self evaluations to your evaluation meeting.

(Note: a self evaluation is a required document for credit in the program)

Your evaluation will be based on:

If you have done additional work, above what is required, this may also be discussed in your evaluation.

 

Expectations of Evergreen Graduates