All posts tagged: History of Art

This week – Alfonso X’s Cantigas

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This week in ‘Death and Devotion’ we have moved swiftly from Paris and England, and are now focusing on Castile and Leon. Within this, we are primarily looking at King Alfonso X’s Cantigas! The Cantigas are a collection of poems about the Virgin Mary which would have been performed in the court, and during the feast days of the Virgin. I’m not going to lie, before encountering this week I was a little skeptical as to what the Cantigas would sound like. But after reading more about them, the historical context and political propaganda behind their conception; I actually quite like them! Here are a few for you to enjoy! I think it’s fascinating that people during the medieval period would have listened to these, and would have invested emotional resonance into them. History of Art definitely incorporates pretty much everything you can think of, and I think that this week proves it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwh0m5EzRXg Cantigas 137 is my favourite, it’s just so cheerful! I feel like I am actually back in the Middle Ages listening …

Back from Paris, back to reality

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  So for some reason WordPress deleted a post that I wrote last week about the last two days of my Paris trip! How annoying. Anyway! So, I have returned from my Paris trip and it was amazing! It really does make a huge difference seeing the objects that you’ve been learning about in person. As  mentioned in a previous post, I went to Paris in the summer and went to some of the places that I returned to on my HoA trip. It was really interesting coming back, with the new knowledge that we have been learning about in the last few weeks, and I cannot believe how I experienced the same spaces in a new light. For the last few weeks in ‘Death and Devotion’, we have been focusing on the Gothic architecture in Paris, focusing on St Denis, Chartres Cathedral (just a little outside Paris) and Saint-Chapelle. It was great to see Chartres in person. I have never been there before, and it was incredible to get the opportunity to explore. The …

Day 1 Paris Trip

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So today is the first day of our trip to Paris, and what a great day it has been! This morning the ‘Death and Deovtion’ group ventured to the amazing Saint Denis church. There we explored and analysed the stained glass, the tombs of various French Kings and Queens and the crypt! After spending the morning there, we took the metro and emerged on the isle which houses Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle. In Notre-Dame we went around the treasury,  looking at the various reliquaries that the church possesses and then we had the rest of the day off! Tomorrow we will go to Chartres Cathedral, which I’m really looking forward to! It’s great to be seeing all these places in person, especially because I’ve been studying them for the last 4 weeks. It seems even stranger seeing as I only come to Paris about 3 months ago – since coming to the same places again, I’ve noticed just how much more I can see in the various buildings since doing my course. Posted from …

Question and Answers

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Q: “Hi, I’m a first year studying History of Art at York and wondered if you had any useful advice for the course. I’ve got an exam for Encounters with the Material Object in January – how did you prepare for this and manage your time in the first year and what would you do differently if you could go back? Thanks!” Q: “Hi there! I’ve just started studying HoA at York and wondered whether you could give me any advice about the first year, how to do well in exams and any techniques to improve my reading and note taking? Thanks” (These questions are very similar so I’ll answer them in one go!) My advice would be – try to be as open-minded as you can to all the different things you explore, whether that be particular theories (which I remember studying in first year), or particular time periods. By being open-minded, this allows you not only to appreciate different things that you might have somewhat ignored or not given much enthusiasm to; and also …

Paris awaits

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Three weeks today, myself and my fellow students on the ‘Death and Devotion’ module will be travelling to Paris for the week, and I cannot wait! I was lucky enough to go to Paris in the summer with my family, and going again with the department will be an incredibly enriching experience. We will be heading to Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame Cathedral, St Denis and venturing out to explore Chartres Cathedral. I have never been to St Denis or Chartres, so it will be great to experience some new, as well as familiar sites.