- University of San Francisco
Department of Art & Architecture
Fromm Hall, XARTS 007
San Francisco, CA 94117 - (415) 422-6708
Nathan S. Dennis
University of San Francisco, Art & Architecture, Faculty Member
- Medieval Studies, Medieval History, Medieval Archaeology, Early Christianity, Medieval Literature, Early Medieval Archaeology, and 43 moreLate Antiquity, Early Medieval History, Late Antique Archaeology, Medieval Art, Medieval Church History, Medieval Europe, Late Antique and Byzantine History, Medieval Theology, Early Christian Art, Early Church, Late Antique Art and Archaeology, Late Antique Religion, Early Church Fathers, Early Church History, Early Church Theology, Early Christian baptisteries, Baptismal Fonts, Art History, History of Art, Byzantine Studies, Patristics, Byzantine Archaeology, Byzantine Iconography, Graeco-Roman Mosaics and Wall Paintings, Roman North Africa (Archaeology), Early Christian Archaeology, Medieval Mediterranean Art and Architecture, Ancient Mosaics, Coptic Monasteries, Early Christian Architecture, Coptic art, Greco-Roman Art and Early Christian Theology, Byzantine Mosaics, Early Christianity, Late Antiquity, Roman North Africa, Early Byzantine Archaeology, Migration Period Archaeology, History of Archaeology, Byzantine art, Marilynn Desmond, Materiality of Art, Agency Theory, and Art and image theoryedit
- I'm Associate Professor of Art History and Museum Studies in the Department of Art and Architecture at the University... moreI'm Associate Professor of Art History and Museum Studies in the Department of Art and Architecture at the University of San Francisco. I specialize in late antique and early medieval art and archaeology, particularly of the Mediterranean and Near East, including the material and visual traditions of Western Christian, Byzantine/Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, and Islamic cultures.edit
Call for Papers for Convivium 11, no. 1 (2024), with the theme *The Arts of Medieval Northern Africa.* Abstracts (~300 words) and CVs due on June 5, 2023. See poster for details.
Research Interests: Middle East & North Africa, North Africa Studies, Medieval Studies, Ethiopian Studies, Early Christianity, and 15 moreIslamic Art, Byzantine Studies, Coptic Studies, Islamic Studies, Medieval Art, Maghreb studies, Early Christian Art, Mediterranean and North Africa, Berber studies, Coptic art, Medieval Spain and North Africa, North Africa, Nubian studies, Byzantine art, and Amazigh culture
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Early Church, Early Christianity, and 15 moreMedieval Archaeology, Byzantine Studies, Baptism, Greco-Roman Art and Early Christian Theology, Medieval Art, Early Christian Art, Early Church History, Christian Theology, Early Christian Archaeology, Early Christian Studies, Early Christian Liturgy, Roman Art, Byzantine art, Early Christian baptisteries, and Early Byzantine Archaeology
Research Interests:
The history of limb prostheses and soft-tissue replacements has centered largely on discussions of mimesis: the attempt to make the body whole again and mitigate the “uncanny gaze” that might call attention to visible deviations from the... more
The history of limb prostheses and soft-tissue replacements has centered largely on discussions of mimesis: the attempt to make the body whole again and mitigate the “uncanny gaze” that might call attention to visible deviations from the normative human body. This mimetic impulse has dominated prosthetic design theory for the last two hundred years. Recent developments in robotics and medical device technology—aided by the history of art and design—have questioned the necessity of mimesis in artificial body parts by embracing the uncanny and exploring the social and philosophical precepts of what it means to be human. However, these fundamental questions of mimetic prostheses and body augmentation are not novel to modernity. Ancient and medieval societies grappled with the same issues when confronted with disability or nonnormative bodies, and they frequently rejected mimesis as a guiding principle for making the body whole again. Instead, they often pushed the boundaries of bodily agency through a keen awareness of materiality, designing prostheses that subverted the power of the uncanny gaze while embracing the uniqueness of the trans-, meta- or even posthuman body.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Archaeology, Art History, Medieval History, Disability Studies, and 15 moreAmputation & Prosthetic Wearers, Medieval Archaeology, History of Art, Prosthesis, Medieval Art, Early Medieval Art, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Ancient Greek and Roman Art, Disability, Prosthetics, Prosthetics and orthotics, Archaeology of Disability, History of art and design, Ancient Studies, and Art and Art History
Cet article examine les sols en mosaïque du IVe au VIe siècle qui ornent les seuils des baptistères en tant qu’agents critiques et systèmes d’encadrement pour la création d’un espace paradisiaque dans le baptême paléochrétien. Les... more
Cet article examine les sols en mosaïque du IVe au VIe siècle qui ornent les seuils des baptistères en tant qu’agents critiques et systèmes d’encadrement pour la création d’un espace paradisiaque dans le baptême paléochrétien. Les signifiants du seuil du paradis – qu’il s’agisse d’inscriptions ou d’emblèmes picturaux dérivés de sources classiques – fournissent un premier aperçu d’un Eden restitué que les catéchumènes percevaient en tant que nouveaux Adam et Eve. Bien que les mosaïques soient souvent considérées comme des parties intégrantes de constructions spatiales plus larges, des seuils similaires dans l’espace ecclésiastique antique tardif ont été considérablement négligés. À l’aide d’études de cas réalisées dans les Balkans et en Afrique du Nord, cet article analyse la fonction spécifique que les mosaïques de seuil jouent dans la redéfinition du paradis dans le baptistère paléochrétien.
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Early Christianity, Late Antiquity, Baptism, Late Antique Art and Archaeology, and 10 moreEarly Christian Art, Early Christian Architecture, Early Christian Archaeology, Paleochristian and Late Antique Archaeology, Early Christian Studies, Baptismal Fonts, Early Christian Mosaics, Baptismal Theology, Archeology of baptism, and Theology of Baptism
This article considers the ways in which the presence of canopies over baptismal fonts influenced the perception of the ritual experience and space. Attested in an important number of late antique baptisteries, canopies shaped the way in... more
This article considers the ways in which the presence of canopies over baptismal fonts influenced the perception of the ritual experience and space. Attested in an important number of late antique baptisteries, canopies shaped the way in which fonts were perceived by conditioning their illumination. Additionally, they created meaningful associations with other canopied spaces and objects, thus adding to the symbolism of the ritual.
Research Interests: Late Antique and Byzantine History, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Early Christianity, and 10 moreByzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantine History, Medieval Art, Early Christian Art, Byzantium, Early Christian Architecture, Early Christian Liturgy, Byzantine art, and Early Christian Mosaics
Research Interests:
Co-edited with Robin M. Jensen and Nathan P. Chase, this book project examines the development and proliferation of Christian baptisteries from approximately the third to seventh centuries across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East.... more
Co-edited with Robin M. Jensen and Nathan P. Chase, this book project examines the development and proliferation of Christian baptisteries from approximately the third to seventh centuries across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Featuring contributions from more than a dozen art and architectural historians, archaeologists, and specialists in early Christian liturgy and baptismal theology, the book offers an interdisciplinary approach to the construction of baptismal spaces, including architectural innovations and appropriations from existing Roman archetypes, the development and dissemination of entirely new iconographical programs to accentuate the ritual experience, and the role of liturgy in the design and use of purpose-built baptisteries. The project contextualizes specific regional developments within the late Roman Empire and early Byzantium and moves beyond rigid typologies in architecture to understand the design of baptismal spaces more holistically in terms of their material, visual, and ritual components, as well as their intended purposes.
Perceptions of the Body and Sacred Space in Late Antiquity and Byzantium seeks to reveal Christian understanding of the body and sacred space in the medieval Mediterranean. Case studies examine encounters with the holy through the... more
Perceptions of the Body and Sacred Space in Late Antiquity and Byzantium seeks to reveal Christian understanding of the body and sacred space in the medieval Mediterranean. Case studies examine encounters with the holy through the perspective of the human body and sensory dimensions of sacred space, and discuss the dynamics of perception when experiencing what was constructed, represented, and understood as sacred. The comparative analysis investigates viewers' recognitions of the sacred in specific locations or segments of space with an emphasis on the experiential and conceptual relationships between sacred spaces and human bodies. This volume thus reassesses the empowering aspects of space, time, and human agency in religious contexts. By focusing on investigations of human endeavors towards experiential and visual expressions that shape perceptions of holiness, this study ultimately aims to present a better understanding of the corporeality of sacred art and architecture. The research points to how early Christians and Byzantines teleologically viewed the divine source of the sacred in terms of its ability to bring together - but never fully dissolve - the distinctions between the human and divine realms. The revealed mechanisms of iconic perception and noetic contemplation have the potential to shape knowledge of the meanings of the sacred as well as to improve our understanding of the liminality of the profane and the sacred.
reviewed in:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1751696X.2019.1649897
reviewed in:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1751696X.2019.1649897
Research Interests: Christianity, Cultural Studies, Aesthetics, Medieval Philosophy, Art History, and 40 moreLate Antique and Byzantine Studies, History of Ideas, Medieval Studies, Anthropology of the Body, Early Christianity, Visual perception, Mediterranean Studies, Saints' Cults, Architectural History, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Body Image, History of Art, Byzantine Architecture, Medieval Architecture, Church History, Pseudo-Dionysius, Medieval Art, Christianity and Rome, Late Antique Art and Archaeology, Byzantium, Medieval Mediterranean Art and Architecture, Orthodox Christianity, Dionysius the Areopagite, Sacred Art, History of architecture, Hierotopy, Beauty, Sacred Architecture, Late Antiquity and Byzantium (History and Art), Icons, Asia Minor, Medieval Rome, Byzantine art, History of Art and Architecture, Sacred Space, Early Christian baptisteries, Relics and Relic Veneration, Rome (early christian and late antique), and Relics and Reliquaries
Unfortunately, I can't upload this review directly, but anyone interested in reading it can follow the external DOI link to access it.