Medieval and Renaissance Venice

This undergraduate travel seminar investigates the architecture, urbanism, and visual culture of Venice from its origins in the early medieval period to the sixteenth century, with particular focus on major religious and civic monuments. While San Marco and the adjacent Palazzo Ducale will be a core concern, Venetian monuments large and small will receive attention. Further emphasis will be placed on saintly relics as markers of cultural and religious identity, the invention and visual manifestation of cult traditions, and changes in Venice’s sacred topography as a result of its expansions on the mainland and in the Eastern Mediterranean.