Course for international guest/part time students
- Faculty
- Faculty of Humanities
- Organization
- BTK Institute of Art History
- Code
- MA-ERA-IAH-L-31
- Title
- The Visual and Material Culture of Freemasonry
- Usual semester
- Autumn
- ECTS
- 8
- Language
- en
- Description
- This course offers an art historical exploration of the rich visual and material heritage of Freemasonry. Following an introductory session on the history and key characteristics of the fraternity, the subject will be approached from two complementary perspectives: objects and themes. The object-focused classes will examine core myths and symbols of Freemasonry through a study of its material culture. Students will engage with the iconography and function of the lodge room and its furnishings (including the altar, gavel, and columns), the regalia of Freemasons (such as aprons, gloves, and jewels), the Masonic temple and its architectural forms, tracing boards used in ritual instruction, symbolic prints, Masonic diplomas, and an array of Masonic objets d’art designed for domestic settings. The thematic component of the course will investigate broader conceptual issues within Masonic culture, including brotherly love and benevolence, death and war, esotericism and occult traditions, anti-Masonic sentiment, and the role of Freemasonry in the visual arts and music. Bogdan, Henrik and Jan A. M. Snoek (eds), Handbook of Freemasonry (Leiden: Brill, 2014) Curl, James Stevens, Freemasonry & the Enlightenment: Architecture, Symbols, & Influences (London: Historical Publications, 2011) Hamilton, John D., Material Culture of the American Freemasons (Lexington, MA: Museum of Our National Heritage, 1994) Wolf, Reva and Alisa Luxenberg, eds., Freemasonry and the Visual Arts from the Eighteenth Century Forward: Historical and Global Perspectives (New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019) * Required chapters will be specified in class. Le grand livre illustré du patrimoine maçonnique (Paris: le cherche midi, 2011) MacNulty, Kirk W., Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Significance (London: Thames & Hudson, 2006) Önnerfors, Andreas, Freemasonry: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017)
- Learning outcomes
- This course offers an art historical exploration of the rich visual and material heritage of Freemasonry. Following an introductory session on the history and key characteristics of the fraternity, the subject will be approached from two complementary perspectives: objects and themes. The object-focused classes will examine core myths and symbols of Freemasonry through a study of its material culture. Students will engage with the iconography and function of the lodge room and its furnishings (including the altar, gavel, and columns), the regalia of Freemasons (such as aprons, gloves, and jewels), the Masonic temple and its architectural forms, tracing boards used in ritual instruction, symbolic prints, Masonic diplomas, and an array of Masonic objets d’art designed for domestic settings. The thematic component of the course will investigate broader conceptual issues within Masonic culture, including brotherly love and benevolence, death and war, esotericism and occult traditions, anti-Masonic sentiment, and the role of Freemasonry in the visual arts and music.
- Course content
- This course offers an art historical exploration of the rich visual and material heritage of Freemasonry. Following an introductory session on the history and key characteristics of the fraternity, the subject will be approached from two complementary perspectives: objects and themes. The object-focused classes will examine core myths and symbols of Freemasonry through a study of its material culture. Students will engage with the iconography and function of the lodge room and its furnishings (including the altar, gavel, and columns), the regalia of Freemasons (such as aprons, gloves, and jewels), the Masonic temple and its architectural forms, tracing boards used in ritual instruction, symbolic prints, Masonic diplomas, and an array of Masonic objets d’art designed for domestic settings. The thematic component of the course will investigate broader conceptual issues within Masonic culture, including brotherly love and benevolence, death and war, esotericism and occult traditions, anti-Masonic sentiment, and the role of Freemasonry in the visual arts and music.
- Assessment method
- exam
- Bibliography
- Bogdan, Henrik and Jan A. M. Snoek (eds), Handbook of Freemasonry (Leiden: Brill, 2014) Curl, James Stevens, Freemasonry & the Enlightenment: Architecture, Symbols, & Influences (London: Historical Publications, 2011) Hamilton, John D., Material Culture of the American Freemasons (Lexington, MA: Museum of Our National Heritage, 1994) Wolf, Reva and Alisa Luxenberg, eds., Freemasonry and the Visual Arts from the Eighteenth Century Forward: Historical and Global Perspectives (New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019) * Required chapters will be specified in class.
- Recommended bibliography
- Le grand livre illustré du patrimoine maçonnique (Paris: le cherche midi, 2011) MacNulty, Kirk W., Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Significance (London: Thames & Hudson, 2006) Önnerfors, Andreas, Freemasonry: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017