This module considers objects and places from the medieval world that have accumulated multiple meanings over time. Challenging the narrative of a ‘clash of civilisations’ between Islam and Christianity, it focuses on the entangled histories of art and architecture in the medieval Mediterranean, examining through case studies the mediatory role of art, material culture and architecture from the 10th to 15th centuries.

 

This course is led by Dr Anna Mc Sweeney, whose research focuses on the art and architecture of the Islamic world. She has published a book on the long history of the Alhambra palace, From Granada to Berlin: the Alhambra Cupola, and is interested in Islamic ceramics, manuscripts, art, and architectural interiors of the medieval Mediterranean, Spain, and North Africa.