Romanesque to Gothic Europe (plus Gallery Talks)

This ten-week hybrid course covers the period between 1050 and 1250, inspired by the V&A's medieval collections. 

Between 1050 and 1150 Europe witnessed unprecedented investment in Romanesque church buildings, many inspired by Roman monuments, and the rebirth of architectural sculpture with plentiful regional variation.  

The “New” style of architecture (termed “Gothic” from the 17th century) emerged in mid-12th century Paris. Craftsmen made buildings that reached new heights with increasingly light-filled interiors. Paris was the epicentre of new ideas, subsequently adopted, to varying degrees, by neighbouring realms. Figurative art changed profoundly from dynamic Romanesque design to something more natural, even classical; a revolution prompted by shifts in theological philosophy, urban and commercial growth, increased literacy, and monasticism’s decline (although the new mendicant orders were influential after 1220). 

We explore the deterioration of relations between East and West, as the Crusading movement increased in zeal, and look at the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, which heralded the Byzantine Empire’s nadir and an influx of Byzantine influence, especially in Italy.