BA History of Art
Entry requirements
A level: A*AA IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level . We don't ask for any specific subjects to apply to History of Art, and Art & Design is accepted. However, Colleges usually require A*/7 in an essay-based subject or language. We also recommend these subjects for a strong application: History History of Art English (language or literature) Languages (ancient or modern)
About this course
BA (Hons) in History of Art, a history of art degree exploring global visual culture, architecture and material production from multiple periods. Teaching incorporates regular on-site sessions in university museums and galleries alongside field trips to exhibitions and notable buildings. The first year introduces global and historical approaches through modules such as contemporary installation and performance art, medieval manuscript illumination, and Modernity and Coloniality. The second year expands into specialized periods and regions, offering papers like Imperial Art and Patronage in Early Modern China, The Global Eighteenth Century, and Rubens, alongside the methodological paper Approaches to the History of Art and Architecture. The third year centres on the compulsory paper The Display of Art, which investigates the history and theories of collecting and display. Students can further tailor their studies in the final year through options such as Film and Visual Culture: Histories and Theories, Global Renaissance Sculpture, and Painting and Patronage in Imperial Russia.
Modules
- contemporary installation and performance art
- Chinese and Islamic ceramics
- medieval manuscript illumination
- Modernity and Coloniality
- current exhibitions in Cambridge (like 'Black Atlantic' at the Fitzwilliam Museum)
- Approaches to the History of Art and Architecture. This covers the history of the discipline and its critical methodologies from antiquity to the present day. The paper is typically assessed by a single final exam at the end of the year.
- Imperial Art and Patronage in Early Modern China
- New York Modern: Painting, History, Abstraction, 1945-1969
- The Global Eighteenth Century
- Contemporary Art, Community and Critique
- Paris 1715-1815: the Birth of the Modern Art World
- Rubens
- Global Modernisms: Art and Decolonisation
- Saints, Sinners and the Sensuous: Art and Architecture in Renaissance Italy and Beyond
- The Display of Art. This compulsory paper explores the history and theories of display and collecting. The paper is typically assessed by an exam at the end of the year.
- Film and Visual Culture: Histories and Theories
- Global Renaissance Sculpture
- Painting and Patronage in Imperial Russia
- The British City in its Global Context
- Encountering Jerusalem: Culture and Crusade between East and West, c.1050-1400