Medieval art was shaped from a cultural crossroad: a conjunction of the Roman world, eastern art, Jewish art, migration art and more. From this conjunction of east and west, and under the orchestration of Christianity, medieval art developed new communication codes and strategies that continued to shape the visual culture of the western world until our own period. This course will scrutinize the artistic activity from the fourth to the tenth century in Europe. It will provide an interpretive framework and initial acquaintance with the architecture, sculpture, painting, book illumination and minor arts in the prominent production centers of the Mediterranean, Byzantine world and Western Europe. In addition the course will focus on the role of the artworks as cult-objects.