Medieval Art 500-1500 (roughly)

The Middle Ages followed the fall of the Roman

Empire in the 5th century and merged into the

Renaissance.

Goodbye Art:

Medieval Art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4zQnNLRW3whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4zQnNLRW3w

The Middle Ages refers to the time period

between the 5th and 15th centuries

Medieval is an adjective that is used to

refer to the people, places, things, and

events of that same period.

It is correct to say medieval furniture, medieval art, medieval

philosophy, medieval history, or medieval scholar

It is not correct to say Middle Ages furniture, Middle Ages art,

Middle Ages philosophy, Middle Ages history, or Middle Ages

scholar.

What are the Middle Ages?

The Middle Ages can be broken up into several time periods…we will be

looking at the Medieval Art and Architecture of…

• Early, high and Late Middle Ages in Europe• Religious Icons

• Romanesque Art/Architecture

• Gothic Architecture

• Byzantine Empire• Religious Icons

• Byzantine Architecture

lords

Feudal SystemLords giveknights/vassals

land (fief) in exchange for

the knights 'promise

to defend the lord and his Land. This is Feudal

Obligation!

Charles the Great• He was 6ft 4inches = taller

than many in Europe

• AKA Charlemagne

• Becomes king of the Francs

• Quickly controlled the entire kingdom of the Francs

• Spread Christianity and reunited western Europe for the first time since the RomanEmpire

Characteristics of Medieval Art

• Rich colors• Heavily outlined• Flat and stiff figures showing no depth• Illuminated Manuscripts• Religious Icons • Architecture is influenced by Greek and Roman –

Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles emerged from this period.

• Mosaics replaced carved decoration• Large Domes central to the church

Medieval Churches & Monasteries

Difference between Romanesque and Gothic Artchitecture Video

Romanesque structures featured round arches and heavy thick walls, small windows like the Roman style (necessary so the

windows do not weaken the structure). A lot of sculptural decorations.

Gothic structures featured pointed arches and have slender feel as if they soar upward (to Heaven), large stained glass windows

filtered in light and color.

Byzantine structures featured large Domes that cover soaring spaces, arches and lavish decoration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwKg4ESvYG4

St. Patrick's Cathedral Tour

ByzantineHagia Sofia, (eye-

ya SO-fia)Turkey &

St. Catherines

Monestary, Egypt

Gothic – St. Patricks, NYC Romanesque –St. Vitale, Revenna, Italy

St. Phttp:/www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/about_ history.php

San Vitale

Ravenna, Italy

526-547

Romanesque Architecture

-Thick walls

-Semi circular Arches

-Heavy in visual weight

San Vitale

Ravenna, Italy

526-547

Theodora and attendants , south wall apse mosaic,

San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

ca. 547, mosaic

The Art of Illuminated Manuscripts

Illuminated Manuscript: Text decorated with complex borders, initials, and small illustrations

Often religious in subject matter, though secular topics

became more common

To Illuminate = To Illustrate

Manuscripts were transcribed by monksNo printing pressesOnly the ruling classes could afford manuscripts and booksUpper classes weren’t necessarily literate

Most manuscripts were created on treated animal skin - vellum or parchment. Few were created on papyrus.

Pigments and precious metals were also used in the creation of these works of art

The Art of Illuminated Manuscripts

Covers of Illuminated Manuscripts• Made of gold and jewels

The Book of Kells

• Illuminated Manuscript of the New Testament

• Created in either Britain or Ireland around 800 CE

• Excellent example of Insular or Celtic Knots

• Celts: A group of ancient peoples whose range spanned from modern day Turkey to Scandinavia and down to the Iberian Peninsula Ancient Celts never lived on the British Islands, though the term is used to refer to the cultures that are currently there

• Insular Knots: geometric, complex patterns used in metalwork, stone carvings, and manuscript illustrations.

• Insular = Island. Originating from the British Isles.

Illustrations of unknown plants, no one can read it…although lots of people have tried.

Voynich Manuscript 1404-1438

Historiated initial R from the

frontispiece of a 12th-century

manuscript of St. Gregory's

Moralia in Job, Dijon, Bible

Gerona Bible Master, Bologna, Italy, 1285

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Moralia_in_Job_MS_dragonslayer.jpg

Stained Glass

– Told Stories

– Complex Geometric shapes

Stained Glass

• Painted Glass

• Religious Images

• Used to decorate churches and some castles

Glass Window from Troyes Cathedral, Troyes, France - 1200

One of the finest examples of gothic architecture and most well

known churches in the world – Notre Dame in Paris

• First to use Flying Buttresses (Arched exterior support system to accommodate higher and thinner walls)

• Famous for the use of water spouts, or gargoyles

• Completed in 1345

• The “rose window” contains symbolism – center is blessed virgin mary and child who are surrounded by prophets and saints.

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Rozeta_Pary%C5%BC_notre-dame_chalger.jpg//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Notre_Dame_buttress.jpg//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Notre_dame_paris_gargouille.jpg

Christ as Savior of Souls,

early 14th century

tempera, linen and silver on wood

3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 1/2 in.

Madonna from the

Annunciation, 1340-1344 Simone

Martini, c.1284-1344

Tempera on panel

Late 1400’s mural - dawning on realistic representations and

attempt at perspective

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Lorenzetti_amb.effect2.jpg

Hagia Sophia

***Known as one of the

grandest examples of Byzantine

Architecture.

A view of the DOME

Hagia Sophia

Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey

532-537

Rick Steven's Hagia Sophia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng--WLT0Xjchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng--WLT0Xjc

Monastery of St. CatherineMount Sinai, Egypt, 6c.

Getty Images of St. Catherines start at 2min

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B679jxNi7zg&list=PLA024C97274BEF01Fhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B679jxNi7zg&list=PLA024C97274BEF01F

• Oldest known monastery

• Mt. Sinai in the Sinai peninsula, the peak where Moses received the Ten Commandments

• Due to Isolation, the Monks devoted much time to develop art which they believed showed their devotion to God.

• The monastery has one of the largest collections of ancient illuminated manuscripts in the world, as well as one of the most important collections of Religious icons, or paintings of important religious events.

Transfiguration of Jesus

apse mosaic, Church of the

Virgin, Monastery of Saint

Catherine, Mount Sinai,

Egypt, ca. 565, mosaic

Religious Images

• Prohibition against Graven Images

– A carved 3D object used for worship…therefore the artwork became very flat.

6th or 7th century Icon of Jesus and an abbot shares in the anti-realist style of Byzantine iconic art, Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/L%27abb%C3%A9_M%C3%A9na_et_le_Christ_01.JPG

The Enthroned Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, 6th century, perhaps the earliest iconic image of the subject to survive at Monastery of

Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt

Christ the Savior (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Spas_vsederzhitel_sinay.jpg

Other Byzantine Art

Icon with the Virgin and Child,

carved mid–10th–11th century

Byzantine; Probably made in

Constantinople

Ivory; 9 3/16 x 2 3/4 x 1/2 in

St. Catherine Wall

Painting,

Chapel of St.

Nicholas, Pendali,

Greece, 12c

This ICON is believed to have originated in Tuscany c. 1300, and influenced a wide number of paintings from the following

century as well as Florentine sculptures from the 1440–1450s. This version was in turn widely copied across Italy and

northern Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries – THIS WORK SERVED AS A BRIDGE FROM BYZANTINE TO EARLY

RENAISSANCE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rogier_van_der_Weyden_-_Virgin_and_Child_-_Google_Art_Project.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hayne_of_Brussels_Virgin_and_Child.jpg

Medieval Castles

Medieval Castles

• A fortified (walled) house of a noble family or king.

• Reflected the prestige of the occupant

• Most were independent (everything the people in the castle needed was made or grown on site)

Review Characteristics of Medieval and Byzantine Art

• Rich colors

• Heavily outlined

• Flat and stiff figures showing no depth

• Religious Icons

• Illuminated Manuscripts

• Architecture is influenced by Greek and Roman -Romanesque and Gothic

• Mosaics replaced carved decoration

• Large Domes central to the church