2020-21 Academic Catalog

Idolatry is an issue that has often determined how human beings interact with and conceive of the world around them. Focusing on the Judeo-Christian formulations of idolatry this course draws on a range of media, from the Hebrew Bible to the bones of saints and popular prints, as we analyze verbal and visual representations of the sacred and the profane. The driving questions will be: how have idols and idolaters been recognized in the past, and how have these various textual and visual formulations of idolatry shaped works of art from the ancient, medieval, and early modern worlds? Prerequisite: 200 level Art History course or instructor permission