Collecting and interpreting Gothic art and architecture

This course explores the different ways in which Gothic art and architecture has been collected and interpreted from the 12th to 19th centuries. It will focus on case studies of specific medieval patrons; architectural drawing collections in cathedral workshops, and antiquarian attempts to preserve medieval buildings during the 18th and 19th centuries. It will compare the methods, attitudes and purposes behind the collecting and recording of works of art and architecture from the Gothic period (c.1140-1400), contrasting medieval and modern perspectives on the meaning, function and aesthetic values of these objects. Through studying primary sources and the collections of specific medieval kings and prelates, Gothic art and architecture will be placed within the social and cultural contexts of its creation, establishing the nature and function of artistic patronage during the 12th to 14th centuries. The use of drawing as a tool for transcribing the original appearance of medieval architecture will be considered as well as the diverse purposes behind the collecting and collating of these visual records, both within the Middle Ages and later centuries. Finally, the course will address how the fragmentary survival of medieval buildings affects our contemporary understanding of their form and meaning, building skills in interpreting lost artworks through the drawn and written records of later centuries.