ARTHIST 206B: Audiovision in the Medieval Cult of Saints

Course Description

Medieval art is silent in modern times. Often displayed in sterile museum galleries, it is presented without analytical consideration of the intended envelope of sound, chant, prayer, and recitation. Stripped of this aural atmosphere, the objects have lost the power to signify and to elicit affect. This course, in response, restores aspects of the original soundscape to explore the entanglement of chant and image in medieval times. It is the first to engage with the impact of AudioVision in experiencing medieval art in its original historical context, focusing on the golden statue of Ste. Foy at Conques in Auvergne, France, and its eleventh-century public worship. ARTHIST 206B fulfills DLCL 122: Medieval Manuscripts: Digital Methodologies core course for the Medieval Studies Minor. (ARTHIST 406B is graduate-level section of this course.)