Christians, Jews and Muslims: Art and Identity in Medieval Spain

The three-talk series explores 700 years of rich and dynamic interaction of Spain’s Christians, Jews, and Muslims through the history of art and architecture on the Iberian Peninsula.

Spain developed three different literary and artistic traditions during the Middle Ages. The presence in the Iberian Peninsula of three different established religions –Christianity, Islam and Judaism– gave rise to three distinctive intellectual communities and practices.

The Iberian Peninsula was known simultaneously as Al-Andalus, Sepharad, and Hispania, depending on the cultural tradition of the scholar approaching it.

This three-talk series, with Professor of Art History Jerrilynn D. Dodds from Sarah Lawrence College, explores 700 years of rich and dynamic interaction of Spain’s Christians, Jews, and Muslims through the history of art and architecture on the Iberian Peninsula.

Program

• On February 8: From the Great Mosque of Cordoba to the Palace of al-Ma’mun
• On February 15: Toledo, Rome and Marrakesh
• On February 22: The ‘Cantigas de Santa Maria,’ The Alhambra, the Alcazar of Seville and the synagogue of Samiel Ha Levi

Jerrilynn Dodds

Jerrilynn Dodds’ work has centered on issues of artistic interchange—in particular, among Christians, Jews, and Muslims—and how groups form identities through art and architecture; special interest in the arts of Spain and the history of architecture. Author of Architecture and Ideology in Early Medieval Spain and NY Masjid: The Mosques of New York and co-author of Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture, among other books and publications.