This course will challenge everything you think you know about Celtic art and aesthetics. Focusing on the period between 600 BCE and 800 CE, when Celtic styles first emerged, case studies will include golden necklaces and coins from France, mesmerizing mirrors and shields from England, intricate stone monuments from Scotland, and colorful manuscripts from Ireland. We will use this material to counter ethnic stereotypes developed by vengeful Greeks, to analyze the transformations of Celtic art made in the Roman empire, and to assess how modern notions of Celtic identity map onto the reality of the past. The course coincides with the Harvard Art Museums' Celtic Art Across the Ages, the first major exhibit of ancient Celtic art to take place in the United States. On field trips to the exhibit, we will engage directly with Celtic antiquities that have left Europe for the first time.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 25

Prerequisites: None. Prior coursework in Art History or Classical Civilization recommended.

Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered; Spring