ARTH 298 - Representing the Enchanted World

This course will examine European-made representations of witches, angels, demons, monsters and other enchanted and so-called marvelous beings made between 1500-1800—the era of the famous witch hunts and a period of dramatic confrontation between belief and disbelief about these figures. Harrowing tales of witches’ sabbaths, moving accounts of angelic visitations, dramatic paintings of hellish demons, and travel accounts of mermaids contributed to ongoing debates about the existence of enchanted beings, how to contact them, and alternately how to banish them. We will study primary texts and visual representations in painting, sculpture, and print to ask what people believed about these otherworldly creatures. Through close analysis of several case studies you will be introduced to a range of approaches to examining early modern art objects that circulated as part of religious, social, and political culture. Themes to be addressed include the circulation of knowledge, institutions of power, “high” and “low” culture, and gender and sexuality.

Credits 1

Notes
Cross-listed with WGS 298