Art History with Bible and Culture

Art history with Bible and culture is a distinctive combination that brings together the study of visual and material art across time and place with the textual, historical and cultural study of the Bible and its reception. Art history examines how images, objects and buildings are made, what they mean, who made and consumed them and how they have been interpreted across different periods and traditions. The Bible and its cultures represents a rich interdisciplinary field, asking how these texts were written, how they have functioned in different religious and cultural traditions and how they have shaped art, literature, music and public life across centuries and continents.

At the University of St Andrews this four-year, full-time programme invites you to explore the deep connections between visual culture and religious tradition, examining how biblical themes, narratives and imagery have been expressed in painting, sculpture, manuscript illumination, architecture and other media across a huge range of historical contexts. You will develop skills in close visual analysis, art historical research and the critical and contextual interpretation of religious texts and traditions. The degree includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study visual culture and related disciplines at an international partner institution and to encounter the artistic and religious traditions of other countries at first hand.

St Andrews's small-group teaching culture means you benefit from close intellectual engagement with leading scholars in both fields.

Graduates of art history programmes work in galleries, museums, auction houses, heritage organisations, publishing, arts administration, education and cultural journalism. The addition of Bible and cultural studies opens further routes in religious education, chaplaincy, theological colleges, interfaith work and cultural policy. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in art history, theology, museum studies, heritage management or related fields, and some pursue academic research careers.