Art History- Winter 1998

Art History 145, "Romanesque Architecture" (SYLLABUS FROM) Spring 1996

Virginia Jansen
Cowell College 203
(459-2055)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Meaning and form of ecclesiastical architecture in western European society, 1000-1130, within monastic, imperial, ducal, and urban environments.

Auditors welcome as space allows.

Assigned readings with brief summaries and responses, a set visual exercise (3-4 pages), one term paper (7-10 pages) or studio project option for art majors, midterm, and final examination. If you wish to do an individual topic for the term paper, you should see me as soon as possible. Other paper options considered by individual appointment.

Attendance is required and is necessary at all classes since the instructor will be presenting material which is not readily available in published form or in English. Participation in discussion is expected. Students who miss more than two unexecused classes will be dropped from the course. Do not cut class in order to finish a paper; it is better to turn it in the next day!

Various books, primarily for good illustrations and background, have been placed on reserve at the Reserve Desk in the main library. A catalogue of these is located nearby. Some slides of buildings seen in lecture and not easily found in books will be placed on reserve for review at the slide library for individual or group viewing. To see these slides or slides for the term paper, students should make an appointment in advance (ext. 2791); in rush periods, a review schedule will be posted on the Slide Library door.

It is Board policy not to grant extensions on papers or incompletes except in extreme emergencies, in which case a note from the proper authority (Health Center, parent, etc.) is required documenting the emergency.

EVALUATIONS or LETTER GRADES will be based on papers, exams, and class participation with the term paper and the final exam usually counting the most. Improvement over the quarter will be weighted significantly, since understanding the material in this course represents an accumulative process.

Required texts (available at Bay Tree Bookstore and on reserve):

Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture 800-1200, Pelican History of Art (well illustrated, but some information is unjustified or now out-of-date).

R. W. Southern, The Making of the Middle Ages (excellent treatment of historical material; to be read rapidly for general comprehension).

a good dictionary, such as The American Heritage Dictionary (well illustrated)

Henry Sayre, Writing about Art

Biblical Selections (1 Kings 4-8, Ezekiel 40-43:5, and Revelation 1, 4-5, 20-21).

J.E. Gordon, Structures

Caecilia Davis-Weyer, Early Medieval Art 300-1150, Sources and Documents. 124-132, 135-141, 147-156, 168-170, 119.

Richard Krautheimer, "Introduction to an 'Iconography of Medieval Architecture,'" Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, V, 1942, 1-34; reprinted in Studies in Early Christian, Medieval, and Renaissance Art, 115-50 (seminal essay).

Walter Horn, "On the Origins of the Mediaeval Bay System," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, XVII, 1958, 2-23.

Walter Horn, "Survival, Revival, Transformation: The Dialectic of Development in Architecture and Other Arts," from Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. Robert L. Benson and Giles Constable with Carol D. Lanham, selection.

Edson Armi, "Orders and Continuous Orders in Romanesque Architecture," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 1975, XXXIV, 173-188 (prize-winning article, to be discussed critically).

Jean Bony, French Gothic Architecture of the 12th and 13th Centuries, Introduction, excerpt.

Georgia Wright, Light on the Stones, The Medieval Church of Vézelay and a variety of other excerpts, illustrations, and miscellaneous.

Blanche Ellsworth, English Simplified (to write papers using correct English usage)

John Fleming, Hugh Honour, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Penguin Dictionary of Architecture (useful; the most authoritative, small-sized dictionary of architecture).

Hermann Kinder and Werner Hilgemann, Anchor Atlas of World History, vol. I (useful, quick fact-finder; a treasure).

If you have never taken a course in medieval art, skim for general comprehension the relevant sections in one of the following:

Spiro Kostof, A History of Architecture

Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Architecture

James Snyder, Medieval Art

Marilyn Stokstad, Medieval Art

George Zarnecki, Art of the Medieval World.

For enjoyment and a good picture of life and building in the 12th century, read Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth.

Revised 7/12/04.