This course will explore the earliest foundations of the Christian tradition in the visual arts in late
antiquity (ca. 200 to 565 A.D.).  Throughout the Mediterranean basin.  Architecture, statuary and
carved sarcophagi, mosaics and frescoes, book illustration, and other media will be examined.
This tradition will also be probed in terms of competing visual power structures the imperial
office, paganism, and Judaism.  Emphasis will be placed on the arts sponsored by emperors and
empresses, church leaders, and high ranking officials in the major metropolitan centers: Rome,
Milan, Ravenna, Constantinople, Thessaloniki, and Jerusalem.  A cultural and social approach will
be taken to specific works of art and architecture.