What was English about art and architecture in medieval England, and how has Englishness been constructed? Following a broadly chronological arc from the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century to Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the sixteenth, this course examines English material culture and its relationship to art in Europe and beyond.
There is a strong emphasis on seeing objects and buildings in person, and we take advantage of our location to visit major monuments in London such as Westminster Abbey and Temple Church, as well as the collections of the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum. But we also travel further afield to sites such as Cambridge, or Ely and Canterbury cathedrals. Approximately 50% of the course focuses on architecture, from the great Norman abbeys through to Gothic cathedrals, Cotswold wool churches, and the earliest Renaissance buildings in England. But we also examine textiles, metalwork, jewellery, sculpture, tombs, manuscripts, wall painting, and stained glass. One special focus of study will be the Bayeux Tapestry, which will be exhibited in London for the very first time during the Autumn Semester. Other objects studied might include Opus anglicanum textiles, the carved elephant ivory and the tombs of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia in Westminster Abbey, the Hereford mappamundi, wall paintings at Winchester cathedral, late medieval devotional manuscripts, and stained glass windows at Canterbury cathedral and King’s College Chapel, Cambridge.
Throughout we are attentive to patrons, artists and users, exploring the patronage of monastic orders and the papal court, the formation of international pilgrimage cults, networks of royal and elite families, itinerant craftsmen and objects, and the trade in wool and precious materials. We thereby locate patrons, objects and buildings in local, national and international contexts that stretch beyond the borders of Europe to Jerusalem, Afghanistan, Chinia and West Africa. We also consider relationships between art, architecture and the environment, and look closely at the texts, events and people that have constructed narratives of English artistic identity, from 12th-century chronicles through to 18th-century antiquarian studies, exhibitions in the 20th and 21st centuries, and the politics of Brexit.
There is strong attention to skills training throughout the course, so that students learn how to analyse numerous types of medieval objects, buildings and texts, and to write up and communicate their research findings in different formats. In our site visits we consider aspects of heritage management, while museum visits offer insight into the world of curating. These skills are complemented by those gained through the Critical Debates, Examining Exhibitions, and Dissertation and Research Skills modules, which also offer opportunities to engage in one of the largest postgraduate communities of art historians in the world, including many who focus on different aspects of medieval art and architecture. In London, students benefit from access to world-class libraries and unparalleled collections of manuscripts, archives and antiquarian materials at The Courtauld, The Warburg Institute, The British Library, The National Archives at Kew, and The Library of the Society of Antiquaries, as well as many other institutions and archives in London and beyond. Research events at The Courtauld, Institute of Historical Research and elsewhere offer occasions for students to meet and hear from leading scholars and curators in the field.
Course Leader: Dr Tom Nickson
In the event that a course leader is on sabbatical, takes up a fellowship, or otherwise is not able to the teach the course, they will be replaced by another experienced course leader either for the autumn term, or in some cases, the academic year.
