Workshop: Early Christian Iconography as Visual Documentation. Methodology and Critical Assessment

The Content (what): the Laboratory outlines a strongly interdisciplinary itinerary in the study of the earliest Christian "visual documentation" (2nd-4th century). The cycle of lessons, conducted in light of a systematic comparison between iconic sources and textual sources, entails a significant experimental dimension for the student, who will be called upon to personally engage with the interpretation and critique of the documentation presented in class.

The Methodological Approach (how): the lessons will proceed through the analysis of selected documents, the meaning of which will be discussed with the class considering different between the most recent critical methodologies (visuality studies; comparative exegesis; critiques of "documentary performance", etc.).
The urgency of methodological reflection - which will be addressed during the course both in general terms and, from time to time, by prompting students in relation to the analytical demands posed by the different documents - will be also underlined, and, particularly with regard to the critical acquisition of visual documentation, it will be presented as the premise for a critical valorization of the documentary source.

The Educational Goals (why): the Laboratory responds to a dual aim:
1.To offer, through the lens of the earliest Christian visual culture, a case study that stimulates the historian-in-training to employ different types of documentation in both the investigative and the descriptive approach to the past. This effort is intended to emphasize the urgency of not neglecting the importance of critically examining visual documentation and to underline the need for a methodologically disciplined acquisition of such materials;
2.To draw attention to methodological reflection, showing how deeply the evaluation of a document is influenced by the critical framework adopted by the scholar.

The expected learning outcomes from participation in the Laboratory sessions are threefold:
1.To gain familiarity with the methodological debate concerning the historiographical use of visual documentation, grasping the main features, motivations, and limitations of the different positions put forward by scholarship.
2.To be able to relate the history of early Christian visual documentation to the contemporary development of Ancient Christian Literature.
3.To be capable of carrying out an initial critical reading of an Early Christian visual document, demonstrating an understanding of the critical issues posed by this type of source.