13
Irish Art and its Contexts
For more than two thousand years, Irish artists
have been contributing to visual expression. This
course presents a survey of some of the key
developments in Irish art from the pre-Christian
period to the present. The understanding of major
artworks and structures depends on an
appreciation of the factors that led to their creation
in the first place, their role in society, and which
ultimately influenced key considerations of form
and content. In addition to considering the various
transformations and revivals over time, this
lecture-only course will address as appropriate
such issues as the education of artists, the
influence of travel, forums for display, studio
practice, and conventions of representation. Each
week, experts from within and beyond Trinity
College will focus on a particular period and form
of expression (including metalwork, manuscripts,
sculpture, architecture, painting, printmaking)
looking at the work of the master-craftsmen and
experimental artists who created them.
Lecturers
Academic staff from Trinity College, Dublin
together with guest lecturers from institutions
such as UCD, NCAD, the Chester Beatty Library
and the National Gallery of Ireland.
How to apply
You may register and pay by credit/laser card
online at
after 5 August 2014 or you can
download an application form and send it with a
cheque/draft/postal money order made payable
to Trinity College no. 1 account to: Dr Patricia
Stapleton, Extramural Administrator, School
of Histories and Humanities, room 3141,
Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2.
Applications may be made in person after
Tuesday, 5 August 2014, in room 3141, Arts
Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2 from 2.30 p.m.
to 4.30 p.m. between 5 and 29 August 2014 only
or by appointment (phone 01 896 8589).
Fee
€150 for the course or €85 per term. A
concession rate of €75 for the course or €45
per term is available to second and third level
students and people whose primary source
of income is social welfare, health board or a
government-sponsored employment scheme.
Time and place
Mondays, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m., venue to be confirmed,
please check our website:
after 5 August
2014
for update or text ‘INFO’ followed by your
name and address to 087 2572015.
Duration
The course comprises of one lecture per week
over two twelve-week terms commencing
Monday, 22 September 2014 and
recommencing Monday, 12 January 2015.
There is a one week break in each term
(3-7
November 2014 and 23-27 February 2015)
when no lectures will take place.
To the Glory of God
Medieval cathedrals and churches are numbered
amongst the great monuments of European
culture. However, modern visitors have a very
different experience to that of their medieval
predecessors, as they encounter these buildings
stripped of their treasures and often in a
fragmentary state. This course will consider
medieval churches as gesamtkunstwerks (or total
works of art). It will address the surviving
architecture, sculpture, wall-painting, stained-
glass, metalwork and manuscripts associated with
medieval churches to try to reconstruct the original
appearance of these buildings. In doing so the
course will explore questions of making, function
and meaning. It will also consider the roles of
patrons, artists and critics in determining what was
appropriate for the house of God. Taking the
period
c.
1100-1220
and the region of modern
