NEW- Making Sense of Christian Art: Key Figures, Style and Contexts
On campus
Spring School on Campus
Dr Cathy Corbett and Dr Elisa Stafferini
Monday 13- Friday 16 April 2026
£545
Course Description
Christian art encompasses imagery drawn from Christian belief and tradition—scenes from the life of Jesus, events from the Old and New Testaments, and representations of the Virgin Mary and the saints. Yet what is often overlooked is how much this imagery has evolved over the centuries, reflecting the Church’s changing theology, responses to heresy, and developments in spirituality and worship.
This course explores how key Christian themes and figures were depicted from the second to the seventeenth century CE, analysing how artistic imagery responded to—and helped shape—shifting theological debates. Artworks by renowned artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and El Greco will be studied alongside lesser-known examples, offering a broad view of the visual language of Christian belief across time.
We will, for example, consider how images of the Crucifixion on a fifth century ivory casket in the British Museum reflect the Church’s doctrinal discussions at that time, then show how medieval spirituality resulted in devotional images of a suffering Jesus, consider the subsequent impact of the Reformation on Christian art, and finally see how a Crucifixion painted by Titian in the sixteenth century reflected Counter Reformation teaching about making religious art clear and educational. We will also explore how theological controversies—such as those concerning the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary—were visualised and even contested through art itself.
The focus will be primarily on works from the Western Christian tradition, with comparative reference to developments within the Eastern (Byzantine) Church.
Morning lectures by both tutors will introduce the key themes and artworks, while afternoon sessions will involve group visits
Lecturers' Biographies
Dr Cathy Corbett is an art historian, with a focus on the sculpture of France, Great Britain and America during the first half of the twentieth century. Her MA and PhD were both undertaken at the Courtauld under the supervision of Professor Christopher Green. She holds a degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, a degree in Art History from the University of Reading, and she taught A-level Religious Studies and History of Art in schools for many years before turning to research. Her current interests include a study of Christian iconography in the context of church history. She has contributed essays to the exhibition catalogues for Modigliani (Tate, 2017) and Zadkine by the Sea (The Hague, 2018) and is writing an introductory guide to modern sculpture.
Dr Elisa Stafferini is an art historian specialising in early modern Italian art. Her research interests encompass secular and religious iconography, women’s studies, and the relationship between word and image.Her PhD thesis, Women in Arms: Female Warriors in Italian Art, 1500–1700, was completed at the Warburg Institute under the supervision of Dr Paul Taylor. She holds both a BA and an MA (summa cum laude) in History of Art from La Sapienza University of Rome, and has held fellowships at the University of Oxford, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence. She is currently teaching History of Art at CityLit and Bedford School.