Arts of Antiquity

The Arts of Antiquity is an introductory course on the art and architecture of ancient cultures, focusing on the city of Rome and its relationship to earlier, contemporaneous and later related cultural traditions. The first part of the course will explore the artistic traditions from which Roman art emerged, beginning with a brief overview of Egyptian painting and sculpture and examining its influence on archaic Greek culture. We will then take a more detailed look at Greek art and architecture during the Classical and Hellenistic periods, before examining the artistic developments of the Etruscans. After this, the course turns to the Romans themselves, taking in many of the most important works of art and architecture in the city of Rome. Finally, we will examine the legacy of Roman artistic culture as it appeared in Byzantium and assess the manner of its persistence into the Romanesque period. The course will be taught as a mixture of classroom lectures and on-site classes, enabling students to see at first hand as much ancient art as possible.