Reunion 2006: The President Gives His Word — Medieval Art is Very Relevant

Dan Weiss stepped out of his role as Lafayette president Friday morning and donned his hat as art historian and professor to open Reunion College with a one-hour presentation on Medieval art, its relevance, and the challenge of teaching a seemingly esoteric and removed subject.Lecturing to a standing-room-only crowd in the lecture hall of the Williams Center for the Arts during Reunion Weekend, Weiss opened by citing the challenge he faces as an art historian – getting students to see the relevance of the field. (He also confessed that as a psychology major, he took his first art class as a way “to spend time with a girl” – and he ultimately went on to marry her.)

“What I find so interesting about the challenge of teaching this material is the fundamental paradox that at one level, this material seems to be rather tedious and repetitive, uninspired by creativity,” said Weiss. “Yet for a thousand years, from the centuries just after the time of Christ to the Renaissance, in the Medieval West and in Byzantium, Medieval art was at the center of society in a way that no other period in western history can attest; [it] was at the very center of how people defined their existence. All of the issues of the day – their priorities, economics, social and political issues – can be found played out in these images that we call church art.”

Weiss cited five aspects of art he tries to get students to see:

• “How does it touch us, transform us?”
• “Appreciation of the technical virtuosity, craftsmanship, and finesse.”
• “How does it connect us to the people who made it; what was happening that led people to create it?”
• “What does it teach us about the human condition?”
• “It is intended to communicate something.”

Understanding the context of the art is “essential,” and gives “an immediate window to that period,” Weiss said as he explained the criteria for fully comprehending its meaning.

“We need to heighten our skills to see it; study it like fine literature�We need to understand the context in which it was made: who made it, who paid for it, who was involved in it� And we need to understand the language of art,” he said, citing style, subject matter, how the subject was represented, and the positioning of the subjects as elements that must be grasped.

Weiss illustrated his pedagogical philosophy and methods by presenting two dozen slides and explaining the meanings of the images.

The Medieval world was “steeped in the religious” and the “images in the art connected [people] to the Holy Land,” he said.

It was this desire to connect to the spiritual world that links those in Medieval times to us today, he explained.

Weiss showed how connection with the Holy Land and its importance to all aspects of society played out with a comprehensive explanation of his research of Sainte-Chapelle, built by King Louis IX and completed in 1248.

The chapel, which used the exact dimensions of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, was built to enshrine holy relics, most notably what was believed to be Jesus Christ’s crown of thorns. It has hundreds of stained glass windows that depict Biblical scenes connecting Louis and Medieval France to Biblical history and the Holy Land.

“This is what the building is about,” said Weiss. “It shows his aspirations and ambitions; it is a remarkable, ambitious political statement.”

Weiss described the thrill he felt, and what he tries to convey to his students, when he began to unravel the meaning of the chapel.

“If you begin to read the language of art, you can talk directly to the people who made it, and that is the most exciting part about being an art historian for me,” he said. “All of a sudden, 700 years are gone. I’m looking at a work of art and I know what [the artist] meant. I know what he’s trying to tell me.”

Frank Downing ’51 was impressed by the presentation, comparing Weiss to a film genius.

“Dan Weiss is an articulate, erudite Woody Allen,” he said.