Emotions and feelings in medieval art
Objectives
1. To acquire knowledge about the various methodologies that, in recent decades, have been applied to the study of medieval art
2. To develop the skill of analyzing and interpreting medieval art from the perspective of the History of Emotions
3. To identify the main essential sources for an in-depth study of medieval art
4. To acquire skills to write original and innovative essays, in the framework of the international research agenda
General characterization
Code
02113389
Credits
10.0
Responsible teacher
Alicia Miguélez Cavero
Hours
Weekly - 3
Total - 280
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
Barasch, Mosche (1976). Gestures of Despair in Medieval and Early Reinassance, New York.
Belting, Hans (1981). Das Bild und sein Publikum im Mittelalter: Form und Funktion früher Bildtafeln der Passion. Berlin: Mann.
Bremmer, J. & H. Roodenburg (eds.) (1997). A Cultural History of Humour: from Antiquity to the Present Day, Cambridge, MA.
Boquet, Damien & Nagy, Piroska (2018). Medieval Sensibilities. A History of Emotions in the Middle Ages. Polity Press.
Carreño López, Sara, & Miguélez Cavero, Alicia (Eds.) (2025). Experiencia y recepción de imágenes, objetos y espacios en la Península Ibérica y las Américas, Special Issue Miradas. Zeitschrift für Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte der Amérikas und der iberischen Halbinsel, Bd. 9.
Casagrande, Carla & Silvana Vecchio (2015). Passioni dell’anima. Teorie e usi degli affetti nella cultura medievale. Florence.
Castro Caeiro, António (2026). Sobre os sentimentos. Lisboa: Tinta da China.
Clough, Patricia Ticineto & Halley, Jean (eds.) (2007). The Affective Turn. Theorizing the Social. Durham–London: Duke University Press.
Damásio, António (2021). Feeling and Knowing: Making Minds Conscious. New York: Pantheon.
Damásio, António (2018). The Strange Order of Things. Life, Feeling and the Making of Cultures. New York: Pantheon.
Damásio, António (2003). Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain, Harcourt,
Damásio, António (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain, New York, Grosset/Putnam.
Davidson, Clifford (2001). Gesture in medieval drama and art. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications.
Dierkens, Alain, Gil Bartholeyns, Thomas Golsenne (dir.) (2010). La performance des images, Bruxelles, Éditions de l’université de Bruxelles (Problèmes d’histoire des religions, 19).
Febvre, Lucien (1941). “La sensibilité et l’histoire: Comment reconstituer la vie affective d’autrefois?”, Annales d’histoiresociale, 3, pp. 5-20.
Förnegård, Per et al. (eds.) (2017). Tears, Sighs and Laughter: Expressions of Emotions in the Middle Ages. Stockholm: Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien.
Gertsman, Elina (ed.) (2012). Crying in the Middle Ages. Tears of History. New York- London.
Gouk, P. & Hills, H. (eds.) (2005). Representing Emotions: New Connections in the Histories of Art, Music and Medicine. London: Ashgate.
Knuuttila, S. (2004). Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miguélez, Alicia (2010). Gesto y gestualidad en la iconografía románica de la Península Ibérica. Madrid: Círculo Románico.
Moscoso, Javier (2021). Historia Cultural del dolor. Madrid: Taurus.
Reddy, William (2001). The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework of the History of Emotions (Cambridge.
Rosenwein, Barbara (2006). Emotional Communities in the Early Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Rosenwein, Barbara (ed.) (1998). Anger’s Past: The Social Uses of an Emotion in the Middle Ages. Ithaca-New York, Cornell University Press.
Sabaté, F. (Ed.). (2025). Managing Emotions in the Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill.
Sabaté, F. (Ed.). (2025). Defining and Perceiving Feelings in the Late Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill.
Sabaté, F. (Ed.). (2025). The Emotional Expression of Authority and Power in the Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill.
Schmitt, Jean-Claude (1990). La raison des gestes dans l’Occident médieval, Paris: Gallimard.
Stets, J. E. & J. H. Turner (eds.) (2008). Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions, 2 vols., New York.
Warburg, Aby (2000). Der bilderatlas Mnemosyne (hrsg. von Martin Warnke unter Mitarbeit von Claudia Brink),Berlin.
Teaching method
The teaching method is based on theoretical and practical classes, with the first part dedicated to the presentation of content by the teacher, followed by the discussion of a case study based on research, reading or prior preparation of a topic by the student. Active and dynamic student participation is considered essential. Students take turns in this role so that, by the end of the semester, each student has given 2/3 oral presentations on readings and analyses of texts and images.
Evaluation method
Essay, with final presentation and discussion in class - 50.0%
Active participation in class throughout the semester: discussion of topics, readings and case studies - 50.0%
Subject matter
MODULE 1 - HISTORIOGRAPHICAL METHODS AND APPROACHES
The History of Emotions: opportunities and methodological challenges
Emotions and feelings in art historiography
MODULE 2 - EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS THROUGHOUT HISTORY: TEXTS AND IMAGES IN CONTEXT
Theories of emotions throughout history
Visual culture: tools and strategies of representation
MODULE 3 - EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS IN THE VISUAL CULTURE OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Intentions, objectives, and messages
Relationships between text and image
Case study: emotions and feelings surrounding death
Reaction and interaction of the viewer with medieval visual representation
Programs
Programs where the course is taught: