Art History 352 - SEM: TOPICS-BEASTS/ BESTIARIES

Topics course.: Bridging the gap between the history of art and the history of science, the manuscript and the print age, the medieval and early modern periods, this seminar interrogates the creative ways in which the writing of natural history was entwined with visual representation. It focuses on bestiaries or treatises on animals, the genre from which modern zoology would emerge. Themes include the depiction of animals; classifications of the animal kingdom; the collecting of animals in menageries and of animal parts in cabinets of curiosity. Part of the course will be taught in the Mortimer Rare Book Room. It welcomes students interested in art history, the history of science, the history of ideas, Medieval and Renaissance studies. Open to juniors and seniors only. No prerequisite or background in art history; permission by the instructor.

Instructor Permission. Not open to first-years, sophomores