Art History 225 - Contested Images and Iconoclastic Acts:A History of Image Destruction

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

Human Rights, Religion UNESCO termed the Taliban's destruction (2001) of two revered ancient stone Buddhas in Afghanistan a "sacrilege to humanity." Yet tothe Taliban, it was the Buddhas that constituted the sacrilege by violating the Islamic prohibition against figural imagery. Iconoclastic acts such as this date to antiquity and have frequently originated in beliefs about the right of human beings to represent and worship divinity in visual form. But iconoclastic acts are also frequently politically motivated. This course looks at important instances of iconoclasm, including those in Byzantium, Reformation Europe, revolutionary France, and more recently, isolated cases such as that of the Taliban.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

The Course Profile information is provided and updated by third parties including the respective institutions. While the institutions are able to update their information at any time, the information is not independently validated, and no party associated with this website can accept responsibility for its accuracy.