Blog Post # 1: Please respond to the following prompt by 5:00 pm on Friday, September 4

I am especially interested in medieval and Byzantine art, particularly the ways Byzantine culture influenced and interacted with other parts of the world. Last fall, in Professor Walker’s seminar, I researched the connections between the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia and Jerusalem. This project deepened my interest in the cross-cultural and pan-Mediterranean dimensions of Byzantine art—an area I would like to explore further through topics such as the architectural relationships between Armenian and Byzantine churches. My interest in architecture began in Professor Cohen’s History of London course, which introduced me to the evolution of Western architectural styles over the centuries. I am also intrigued by the relationship between Byzantine and modern art, such as the possible influence of Eastern Orthodox religious experience on Malevich’s Black Square and the spiritual dimensions of modern abstraction. Finally, medieval and Crusader manuscripts interest me because their rich combination of textual and visual material could provide valuable evidence for a thesis examining cross-cultural exchange, architecture, or the continuing legacy of Byzantine visual culture.