TOPICS: FALSE IDOLS in Fall 2025 (AH2091A)

Since the ancient world to the present, people have endowed material objects with powers that go beyond their physical appearance. Statues of gods, miraculous icons, amulets, and relics are just a few examples of art that is believed to point to an otherworldly reality. Yet how were these material manifestations of different gods able to co-exist in an increasingly global world? European trade, colonial initiatives and missionary activity in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas brought about the meeting of diverse belief systems and the cult objects that embodied them. How did Europeans react when they encountered the veneration of non-Christian gods and spirits, and how was this encounter informed by Europe’s own image debates? How did African, Asian, and Latin American cultures integrate, appropriate, or resist the introduction of Christianity and its cult images? To answer these questions and others, we will examine the topic of idolatry—the worship of lifeless images or false gods—and its significance for image-making and destruction as part of a global history of art. In doing so, this course will explore the ramifications of cross-cultural encounters between societies whose gods and objects of worship were often perceived to be radically different from one another. Our objects of study will come from the 16th-18th centuries and will include paintings, engravings, codices, textiles, and sculptures.