ART 355 Art and Devotion
The fifteenth century saw the rise of a mystic piety, which focused on direct personal engagement with holy figures and the recreation of the sights and sensations of biblical events in one's own mind. The increasing fascination with spiritual vision on the one hand, and a rising interest in the close observation of the natural world on the other led to an art that celebrated physical vision and material beauty as manifestations of the divine. This course explores the role of art in both public liturgy and private devotional practice, focusing on the work of Netherlandish artists such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, and Hieronymus Bosch. After the Protestant Reformation, the traditional liturgical and devotional functions of religious art were called into question. Artists like Albrecht D¸rer, Joachim Patinir, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, creating images for both Catholic and Protestant patrons, had to navigate a more diverse confessional culture, and religious images began to serve as exempla and focal points for moral reflection in an increasingly complex world.