Explores the transformations evident in Western European art spanning from the age of Constantine
to the late Gothic period. Special areas of interest include Early Christian attempts to visualize a new religion in the varied images of Jesus and the saints, and through mysticism and the world of symbols; Byzantine elegance and grandeur; the melding of Roman style with Christian thought in the Romanesque; chivalry and love in the courtly society of the Gothic and the cult of the Virgin Mary; the great cathedrals of the Gothic, viewed as immense prayers in stone; the late medieval return to the humanism of antiquity with the school of Giotto; and the role
of women, and ways women are represented in medieval art. Fulfills the general education requirement in fine arts. [3 credits]