Postgraduate Course: Expanding the Book: Image and Literacy in Valois France (HIAR11040)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the development of illustrated books in France from the fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries, exploring ways in which illuminated manuscripts and early printed books were designed to function visually and aesthetically, as well as textually. |
| Course description |
Particular attention is given to programmes of illustration for which textual expositions of the pictures have survived, permitting clear assessments of the aims of the artists, their supervisors and their patrons. Several kinds of book are considered, including Books of Hours, new translations into French of works by classical authors, and late medieval romances and collections of poetry. A special focus is how the demands of audiences for new forms of book illustration expanded considerably during this period, challenging artists to devise evermore imaginative decorative schemes and pictorial possibilities. The interplay of sacred and secular themes is one topic that characterises the whole period. The course, furthermore, aims to provide students with an introduction to manuscript studies; looking broadly at aesthetic developments in manuscripts during the fifteenth century and more specifically at changing text/image relationships.
The course is delivered in the form of weekly two-hour seminars. Each seminar contains a short lecture followed by a discussion. For each seminar there will be set readings, or research activities, to complete in advance. During the course, students will also be given the opportunity to consult manuscripts in person at Edinburgh University¿s Centre for Research Collections. All students will be encouraged to engage in Autonomous Learning Group tasks between seminars and to undertake independent research in a manuscript collection within Edinburgh.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components:
1. A catalogue entry (200 words) and blog post (800 words) Week 7 (40%). This consists of a succinct catalogue entry for a manuscript in an Edinburgh collection, with a blog post on the same manuscript, aimed at a non-specialist audience, relating this work to one of the key themes of the course.
2. 3,000-word essay (60%), to be submitted in Week 11. |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback:
Students will receive written feedback on a 200-word essay plan for the 3,000-word essay in Weeks 5-7.
Summative Feedback:
The summative feedback for component 1 will feed directly into component 2.
Students will receive individual written feedback and grades on their summative submissions, which will be provided via LEARN VLE as per university regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Assess key developments in the pictorial arts of the book in France between c.1380 and c.1520, especially in relation to examples in the Centre for Research Collections in the University of Edinburgh.
- Engage with approaches that help to identify, date and contextualize illuminated manuscripts and early printed books during this period.
- Interpret examples of illumination of this period by means of visual analysis.
- Apply critical attitudes to understanding illuminated manuscripts in their original contexts through observation and through reading of original documentary and literary sources.
- Apply an understanding of current manuscript research methodologies to writing accurate catalogue entries and understand how this material can be made accessible to different audiences.
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Reading List
¿ Alexander, Jonathan, J. G., Medieval Illuminators and Their Methods of Work. Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992.
¿ Avril, François and Reynaud, Nicole, Les Manuscrits à Peintures en France 1440-1520. Paris : Flammarion, 1993
¿ Brown, Michelle P., Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. London: British Library, 1994
¿ Camille, Michael, Image of the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art. London: Reaktion Books, 1992
¿ Meiss, Millard, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry:
I. The Late Fourteenth Century and the Patronage of the Duke. London: Phaidon Press, 1967
II. The Boucicaut Master. London: Phaidon Press, 1968
III. The Limbourgs and their Contemporaries. London: Thames and Hudson, 1974
¿ Morrison, Elizabeth, and Hedeman, Anne, Imagining the Past in France: History in Manuscript Painting, 1250-1500. Los Angeles: Getty Museum, 2010 |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.arthistory.ed.ac.uk |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry
Students will develop skills in research and enquiry. They will be encouraged to identify and creatively tackle problems relating to manuscript material. They will be encouraged to identify and develop areas for research and refine independent research skills.
Intellectual autonomy
Students will be encouraged to use their intellectual autonomy to critically evaluate ideas, and textual and visual evidence from an open-minded and reasoned perspective.
Communication
Students will develop written and oral communication skills. They will learn to adapt communication strategies to reach and engage with different audiences.
Outlook and engagement
Students will draw on their learning to engage with broader projects. They will seek to become effective and influential contributors to the wider research community.
Visual and critical analysis
Students will develop skills in critical thinking. They will develop the confidence to undertake original research and to use their skills in visual and textual analysis to engage critically with pictorial and textual source materials. They will learn to critically assess visual and literary modes of communication. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Location will be confirmed in Handbook |
| Keywords | Illumination,Book of Hours,Charles V,Charles VIII,René of Anjou,Pucelle,Limbourgs,Fouquet,Perréal |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Bryony Coombs
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: Bryony.Coombs@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Yijia Chen
Tel:
Email: ychen7@ed.ac.uk |
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