Art History

From cave paintings to cathedrals and from Leonardo da Vinci to Andy Warhol, the history of art embodies the human imagination, human history, and the rich tapestry of human cultures in a memorable and accessible form. Within blocks of the University, our own history and culture comes to life in the golden dome of the classically inspired State House and in the “brutalist” modernism of Boston City Hall; in the Holocaust Memorial on Congress Street and in the Civil War monument to Robert Gould Shaw’s black infantry unit on the corner of Beacon and Park. Art history is an examination of how such images and monuments communicate and how they function in society: to teach us, move us, and to exalt us—and also, occasionally, to mislead us and to sway our opinions against our better judgment. The study of art provides an access to other cultures, other eras, and other ways of thinking, and will prepare you for your junior year abroad and for an entire lifetime of thinking and living with a global and historical perspective.