Relic, Reliquary, Materiality: Sacred Art as Design History
This seminar aims to revisit the role and
function of sacred arts in the three
Abrahamic faiths, Christianity, Islam, and
Judaism, in order to bring forward a new
understanding as to the role and function of
artefacts made for and used in religious
contexts. By centering on the reliquary as the
defining manmade sacred object, we will
uncover the place of religious arts through
material, design, ritual, and technique. As
present-day scholarship is concerned more
with the agency, presence, and ontological
status of crafted artefacts rather than with
their style and iconography, the seminar is
set to explore how these objects raise
significant questions about the nature and
operation of artefacts in the world, their
materiality, their ability to act or inspire
action, and their relation to speech, texts,
and words. Drawing on the large collections
of New York City held at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, NYPL
and the Morgan Library, as well as the
dedicated exhibition Siena: The Rise of
Painting, 1300–1350 (opening in mid-October at the MMA), we will uncover an
uncharted chapter in the history of design. 3
credits. Satisfies the geocultural or
chronological requirement.