Continuity and Transformation in Western Art - 10 Week Art History Workshop -

A 10-week illustrated art history course exploring five centuries of artistic innovation, cultural change, and great masterpieces. With Dr Nicola Wakeham | Dartmouth From Gothic Cathedrals to Enlightenment Classicism Medieval to the Modern period Thirteenth to the Eighteenth Century How did art both mirror and shape the great transformations of European history? This course invites learners on a journey through five centuries of Western art, from the soaring cathedrals of the Gothic age to the elegance of the Enlightenment. Along the way, you will encounter masterpieces that reveal how artists responded to questions of faith, power, identity, and knowledge—and how their works reshaped the very way people saw the world. Each week focuses on a pivotal moment, moving from the grandeur of thirteenth-century sacred art to the realism of Dutch domestic interiors, from the drama of Baroque spectacle to the clarity of Enlightenment classicism. The course combines lectures with lively discussion of key readings, encouraging you to think critically about how art reflects cultural values while also driving social and intellectual change.