Art and Archaeology

In China, Japan, Islamic world, and other cultures, writing is ranked as highest of the visual arts, far above painting, sculpture, even architecture. Forms taken by beautiful writing are at least as diverse as the writing systems that underlie them: think of Egyptian writing, Chinese calligraphy, and Roman monumental inscriptions. This course introduces world's major calligraphic traditions and examine the functions of beautiful writing, reasons for its existence and prestige, and factors that shape styles of writing. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. One three-hour seminar.

General survey of the indigenous civilizations of North America, Central America, and South America. The goals are to demonstrate methods and techniques employed by art historians working in this area to study the past, and to examine how art history, archaeology, and ethnohistory contribute to the interdisciplinary study of ancient peoples. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This course acquaints students with the art, architecture, and archaeology of ancient Mexico and Central America. The course considers a wide range of cultures spanning from the first arrival of humans at the end of the Upper Paleolithic period through the 16th century Spanish invasion. Major culture groups to be considered include Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, and Aztec. Precepts will include theoretically-focused discussions, debate regarding contested scholarly interpretations, and hands-on work with objects at the Princeton University Art Museum. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement.

What is the role of photography in contemporary society? By looking at photographic forms, ranging from commercial portraits, ID cards, family albums, and fashion and advertising photography to newspaper and magazine illustrations, this course explores diverse ways that photographs have come to define and challenge the "real." Students will talk with professionals in fields of journalism and fashion, examine controversies over digital manipulation and politically charged photos, and consider historical sources of contemporary styles. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 3 distribution requirement. One three-hour seminar.

A study of the culture of Greece and the Aegean from the Early Bronze Age to the eighth century B.C. Special emphasis is placed on the Minoan-Mycenaean civilization, the Dark Ages of the early first millennium, and the age of Homer. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Offered in alternate years.

The course will focus on the formation of new artistic traditions in the ancient Near East and late-period Egypt after 1000 B.C.E. and then investigate their interrelationships with early Greece and the controversial theories of modern scholars of the dependence of early Greece on the ancient Near East. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Two 90-minute classes.

An examination of the culture and institutions of classical Athens, its buildings, monuments, and works of art, set against the historical background of the city's growth. Aspects of government, religious festivals, society, and daily life are investigated. The archaeological record is enriched by study of ancient historical sources in translation. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Roman urban and suburban architecture throughout the Roman provinces from the late Republic to late Empire, focusing upon the Romanization of the provinces from Britain in the northwest to Arabia in the southeast. Town planning, imperial monuments, villas and sanctuaries, domestic and public architecture, and interior decoration considered. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. One three-hour class.

In this class we will examine the history, function, theory and meaning of the icon. We will also examine the icon's influence upon the discourses of Modernism. A more practical aspect of this class is that participants in the course will work with the Princeton University Art Museum's icon collection and with its collection of icon painter's preparatory drawings. The class will provide participants with a broad grounding in questions pertaining to the icon.

This course explores the technology and function of books in historical perspective, asking how illuminated manuscripts were designed to meet (and shape) cultural and intellectual demands in the medieval period. Surveying the major genres of European book arts between the 7th-15th centuries, we study varying approaches to pictorial space, page design, and information organization; relationships between text and image; and technical aspects of book production. We work primarily from Princeton's collection of original manuscripts and manuscript facsimiles. Assignments include the option to create an original artist's book for the final project.

Historical patterns of development in Western European architecture between 300 and 1300: Early Christian through Gothic, with emphasis on Romanesque and Gothic innovations. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Art in late antiquity has often been characterized as an art in decline, but this judgment is relative, relying on standards formulated for art of other periods. Challenging this assumption, we will examine the distinct and powerful transformations within the visual culture of the period between the third and sixth centuries AD. This period witnesses the mutation of the institutions of the Roman Empire into those of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The fundamental change in religious identity that was the basis for this development directly impacted the art from that era that will be the focus of this course.

Exploration of key moments in German culture in light of its history and institutions. Topics may range from Marxist aesthetics to theories of fascism to German women writers. Readings and discussion in German.

A technical and historical introduction to manuscript illumination from the invention of the codex to the advent of the printed book. Topics include the history of script and ornament, genres of illuminated manuscripts, the varying relations between text and image, owners of books, circumstances of production. Extensive work with Princeton's manuscript collections. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two 90-minute classes. Offered in alternate years.

Painting and sculpture of the formative years of the early Renaissance in Italy (ca. 1250-1400) with emphasis on the cultural, social, and religious concerns that found expression in art. Topics include the relationship between art and piety, the effect of the Black Death, and the rediscovery of the classical heritage. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

The fabric and image of the city seen in planning, architecture, and the works of artists and writers. Attention to the city as an ideal and an example, from its foundation to the present, with emphasis on major periods. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

The class surveys connections in art of different cultures and continents throughout the world from the first civilizations to the present. Attention will be paid to distinctive and related forms of culture and their expression in art and architecture that includes trade, migration, gift exchanges, war and economics.

The 18th century saw the emergence of the first architectural and engineering schools. Architects and engineers started to compete all over Europe in a time when technical knowledge and efficiency were becoming as important as experience and learnedness. This course provides students with a survey of 18th-century European architecture in the light of the rivalry between two trades on the verge of professionalization. The first weeks will be devoted to the actors of the building world before focusing on the fields of contest between architects and engineers and how this battle defined the nature of each profession, between art and science.

This course will focus upon prints or drawings studied from original works of art. All periods of European art may be considered along with occasional Asian objects. Classes will be conducted in the Princeton University Art Museum, New York (museum and dealer and/or auction house), and possibly Washington D.C. (National Gallery of Art). For fall 2016 the course will study drawings from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.

Architectural theory, criticism, and historiography from the Renaissance to the present, emphasizing the transformations of the classical Vitruvian tradition and theories of modern architecture from the end of the 17th century to the 1930s. Architectural thought in its institutional and cultural context and as it relates to design method and practice. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

The visual arts in Germany during the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). Works of art, cinema, and literature in historical context. Topics include: modernism and modernity; Expressionism, Dada, New Objectivity in painting, photography, cinema, and literature; historical conditions of bodily experience and visual perception; emergence of new artistic and technological media; expansion of mass culture; place of politics in art; experience and representation of metropolitan life; changes in the conceptualization and representation of individuality, collectivity, embodiment, race, class, gender, sexuality. Two 90-minute seminars, one film screening.

The concept of nature from the Renaissance through the 18th century as seen in European gardens and landscape architecture. Major consideration will be given to the Italian villa-garden complex, the French classical garden, and the English romantic garden and park as evidence of large-scale planning. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

European architecture from 1420 to the mid-18th century with particular emphasis on its historical and social background. The various architectural movements--Renaissance, baroque, and rococo--are studied in terms of important architects and buildings especially of Italy, France, and England. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

An introduction to the literature of the Renaissance in Europe and in England. Emphasis upon major genres--lyric, drama, pastoral, and prose-fiction--as they arise in Italy, France, Spain, and England. Readings from Boccaccio, Castiglione, Lope de Vega, Sidney, Shakespeare, Erasmus, Rabelais, and Cervantes. Two 90-minute seminars.

Painting, sculpture, and architecture in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, and Russia, ca. 1450-1800. Special emphasis is placed on the changing roles of court, city, cloister, and aristocracy and the relation of local styles to international trends, including art elsewhere in Europe. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 2 distribution requirement. Offered in alternate years. One three-hour seminar.