History of Art at Trinity
The Department of History of Art and Architecture was established in 1966. The undergraduate teaching programme focuses on art and architecture from the early middle ages to the twenty-first century. Our curriculum ranges from a core of Western art history to, for example, Irish art and architecture, Japanese art, Islamic art and material culture, international modernism, global contemporary art, and the architecture of the early modern Spanish Empire. As a relatively small Department, we emphasise small group and off-site teaching.
At postgraduate level, the Department offers a popular Masters course, the M.Phil. in History of Art and Architecture. There is also a vibrant group of research students reading for PhDs. The many successful graduates of the department are employed in galleries, publishing houses, art sales, teaching, and journalism, as well as in a broad range of administrative, commercial and media-based professions.
Located in the heart of Dublin, Trinity College is the ideal place in which to study the history of art and architecture, with the National Gallery, the National Museum, the Royal Hibernian Academy, and the Chester Beatty Library all situated close by, offering students a unique opportunity to study major works of art at first hand. The historic College campus provides the perfect environment for the study of architectural history, with outstanding exemplars of architecture from the early Georgian to contemporary. Students also benefit from the College’s world-renowned collections of manuscripts and printed books, paintings and sculpture, and have access to the Douglas Hyde Gallery, one of Ireland's foremost contemporary art galleries.