Body Matters: Living with Art in the Early Modern (Art History 2)
Felix Jäger
Institute of Studies in Art and Art Education,
Art History
2027S,
Lecture
(VO),
2.0 ECTS,
2.0 semester hours,
course number S51316
Description
This series of lectures maps out European artistic cultures from the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries. Conventionally, this period of history is told through the lens of master artists and the ways their creations appealed to the tastes of elite audiences. In contrast, we will consider more broadly how early modern images and objects shaped the experiences of their owners, and how they shared in the ongoing political, social, and spiritual struggles of the time. We will challenge exclusive understandings of the “fine” arts – painting, sculpture, and architecture – by embedding them within wider visual and material cultures and by examining their impact on how people perceived, understood, and acted within their world.
We begin by reflecting on the analytical leverage of the body in current anthropological approaches to the history of art, and then work through four rough thematic sections. In the first three lectures (MATERIAL CULTURES), we examine the interplay of cosmetics and portraiture, the roles of domestic furnishings in everyday life, as well as the fashioning of social and gender norms through dress. We then proceed to consider art's agency in broader political, religious, and social conflicts of the time (VIOLATIONS), by honing in on iconoclastic aggression against artworks, confessional "image wars", as well as artistic framing of warfare and injury. Three lectures (EMBODIMENTS) are dedicated to the emergence of the anatomical eye and the social construction of disability, the artistic policing of emotional cultures, and the manifestations of "fringe" experiences, such as exaltation and madness. In the final two lectures (BODY POLITICS), we consider the entanglements of the body with politics, centering state portraits and representations of non-European peoples, as well as the invention of landscape aesthetics in the context of resource exploitation and colonization.
Moving through both “classic” and lesser-known materials across times and geographies, these lectures critically contextualize early modern art within key historical trends, such as the emergence of modern selfhood, science, nationalism, and imperialism. Through close readings of objects, we aim to cultivate a critical awareness for the material, practical, and embodied dimensions of artworks.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRE-COURSE READING:
Kalof, Linda / Bynum, William (eds.): A Cultural History of the Human Body in the Renaissance. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.
Kümin, Beat (ed.): The European World, 1500–1800: An Introduction to Early Modern History. London: Routledge, 2009.
Prown, Jules David: Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method. In: Winterthur Portfolio 17 (1982), pp. 1–19.
Richardson, Catherine / Hamling, Tara / Gaimster, David (eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Material Culture in Early Modern Europe. London: Routledge, 2017.
Examination Modalities
tbc
Comments
Lectures will be given in English; questions are welcome in any language.
Key Words
sculpture, object sculpture, fashion design, interior design, jewellery, lecture, woodcut, painting, design, printing processes, drawing techniques
Course Enrolment
From 01 February 2027, 09:00
Via online registration
Curriculum Allocation
Art Education: study subject kkp (Bachelor): Academic Practice: FOR: Art History (1-4), VO 034/2026UBA-003.19
Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: FOR: Art History (1-4), VO 034/2026UEW-003.19
Art Education: study subject dex (Bachelor): Academic Practice: FOR: Art History (1-4), VO 037/2026UBA-003.19
Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Academic Practice: FOR: Art History (1-4), VO 037/2026UEW-003.19
Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: GO: Kunstgeschichte (1-4), VO 067/2016UBA-003.11
Art Education: subject kkp (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Kunstgeschichte (1-4), VO 067/2016UBA-003.19
Art Education: subject kkp (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: GO: Kunstgeschichte (1-4), VO 067/2018UEW-003.11
Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: GO: Kunstgeschichte (1-4), VO 074/2017UBA-003.11
Art Education: subject dex (Bachelor): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: FOR: Kunstgeschichte (1-4), VO 074/2017UBA-003.19
Art Education: subject dex (Enhancements study): Wissenschaftliche Praxis: GO: Kunstgeschichte (1-4), VO 074/2018UEW-003.11
Transformation Studies. Art x Science (Bachelor): Focus! Transformation Areas: Cultural Transformation 162/2025UBA-040.40
TransArts - Transdisciplinary Arts (Bachelor): Theoretical foundations: Theoretical foundations 180/2025UBA-003.01
Expanded Museum Studies (Master): Electives: Art History 537/2021UMA-080.10
Stage Design (1. Section): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kunstgeschichte 542/2022U00-107.01
Stage Design (2. Section): Kunsttheorie und Kulturwissenschaften: Kunstgeschichte 542/2022U00-207.01
Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (1. Section): Wissenschaftlich theoretische und historische Grundlagen: Kunstgeschichte 566/2019U00-108.12
Media Arts: Specialisation in Transmedia Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie und Geschichte : Kunstgeschichte 566/2019U00-208.12
Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (1. Section): Wissenschaftlich theoretische und historische Grundlagen: Kunstgeschichte 567/2019U00-108.12
Media Arts: Specialisation in Digital Arts (2. Section): Wissenschaft, Theorie, Geschichte: Kunstgeschichte 567/2019U00-208.12
Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 1: Art History 568/2021UMA-005.03
Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften (Master): Electives Area 2: Art History 568/2021UMA-006.03
Cross-Disciplinary Strategies (Master): Study Areas 1-3: Study Area 1: Artistic Strategies and Approaches to Art 569/2026UMA-020.10
Design: Specialisation in Design and Narrative Media (1. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Fundamentals: Art History 576/2024U00-103.02
Design: Specialisation in Design and Narrative Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Fundamentals: Humanities 576/2024U00-203.02
Design: Specialisation in Communication Design (1. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Art History 577/2025U00-103.02
Industrial Design (1. Section): Art and Cultural Studies - Basics: Art History 580/2013U00-104.08
Design: Specialisation in Fashion Design (1. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Art History 584/2019U00-103.02
Design: Specialisation in Fashion Design (1. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Free Elective Pool Methodological and Theoretical Basics 584/2019U00-103.80
Fine Arts (1. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Art History 1-4 (VO) 605/2019U00-102.10
Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Art History 1-4 605/2019U00-202.03
Fine Arts (2. Section): Scientific and Research Practice: Free Electives out of Scientific and Research Practice 605/2019U00-202.80
Design: Specialisation in Applied Photography and Time-based Media (1. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Art and Design History 626/2021U00-103.02
Design: Specialisation in Applied Photography and Time-based Media (2. Section): Methodological and Theoretical Basics: Humanities 626/2021U00-203.02
Cross-Disciplinary Strategies (Bachelor): Artistic Strategies and Approaches to Art: Foundation 700/2026UBA-001.10
Cross-Disciplinary Strategies (Bachelor): Artistic Strategies and Approaches to Art: Deepening and Application 700/2026UBA-001.20
Art & Science (Master): Methods and Practices of Transdisciplinary Research: Practice and Theory 776/2026UMA-002.16
Co-registration: possible
Attending individual courses: possible