Medieval Art. The medieval period of art history spans from the fall of the Roman Empire in 300 AD to the beginning of the Renaissance in 1400 AD. During

Medieval Art

Medieval Art

The medieval period of art history spans from the fall of the Roman Empire in 300 AD to the beginning of the Renaissance in 1400 AD.

During the Middle Ages art and architecture in Europe was devoted almost exclusively to serving the Christian church.

Medieval Art Illuminated Manuscripts

Before the invention of mechanical printing, books were handmade objects, treasured as works of art and as symbols of enduring knowledge. Indeed, in the Middle Ages, the book becomes an attribute of God.

What is an illuminated manuscript?


Illuminated manuscripts are books written by hand and painted with precious pigments. Manuscripts contain most of the finest surviving examples of medieval painting.

Where does the word manuscript come from?

What is an illuminated manuscript?

The word manuscript is derived from the Latin words manus (hand) and scriptus (to write).

The word illumination comes from the Latin verb illuminare (to light up) and is defined as the decoration of a manuscript with bright shimmering colors (especially gold). The artist who produced the lavish artwork on illuminated manuscripts were called Illuminators.

What does the word illumination mean?


Medieval Monks painstakingly created illuminated manuscripts; copying religious texts and embellishing them. In Christianity, a monk is a man dedicated to a religious life in a monastery, living according to a particular rule and under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Who created the illuminated manuscripts?

Illuminated Manuscripts were generally written in ink on parchment or vellum. Parchment was made of animal skins. The text was first written by a scribe and then the gold leaf was applied by the illuminator. The application of color was then added following a planned design.

Metal clasps or ties of leather or fabric were used to keep the manuscript closed. Bindings were sometimes embellished with paint or with designs stamped with metal tools; the most precious manuscripts were adorned with metalwork and jewels.

What were the illuminated manuscripts made of?

What did the medieval manuscripts look like on the outside?


Two Men before a King and A Man Speaking to a Family, Unknown Illuminator, from the Vidal Mayor, Spanish, about 1290–1310


Illuminated Manuscripts

Medieval ArtIlluminated Manuscripts

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/glory/gothic_interactive.html

This illustrated scene corresponds to a portion of the text devoted to the legal rights of orphans. In the top half of the image, a man in a red robe speaks with the king about the sale of a piece of property. He appears again to the far right, having received the king's judgment. Below, he is shown a third time, approaching a couple and a small child. Because the man's petition to sell the property would deprive the child of his rights to the estate, it is denied.




The two scenes take place in the upper and lower halves of an initial A . The letter is formed by the arching body of a dragon; the beast's folded wings are seen on the left while its small doglike head is at the lower right. The two human-headed birds perched on top of the square frame add liveliness to the page.


Lindisfarne Gospel Book

What letters are illuminated here?Can your eye follow the looping and curving lines of this intricate design?What is hidden inside of the letters?


Lindisfarne Gospel Book

This page from the Lindisfarne Gospel Book shows the beginning of the Gospel of St. Matthew. The X-P is a contraction of the Greek name for Christ. The illustration is beautifully interlaced with abstract and geometric designs of minute detail. Hidden in the curves and swirls are serpents, dragons and other fantastic animals.

Medieval Art

St. Matthew the Evangelist, from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims, 816-835

Describe the artwork. What is being depicted here?

Compare and ContrastSt. Matthew the Evangelist, from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims, 816-835

St. Matthew the Evangelist, from the Gospel Book, Rhineland, about 800

The first St. Matthew is extremely expressive and is filled with energy as he hurries to write his Gospel. He appears to be seized with divine inspiration. The second St. Matthew is Classical and calm; the saint is intent on setting down his own thoughts. The contrast between these two styles shows the wide range in style that existed in the ninth century.

Medieval Art Gothic ArchitectureCathedrals became the religious, cultural and social centers of the growing cities during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Unity is the key word in Gothic architecture. Interiors and exteriors belong together and are similarly decorated.

Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194 Gothic Architecture

Best remaining example of Gothic architectureCathedral incorporated new ideasFirst cathedral to use flying buttressesUsed groin vaultsOverall feeling of verticality-super high interior reaches toward heavenLots of light comes in through beautiful stained glass windows.

Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194 Gothic ArchitectureA flying buttress is a free-standing arch--usually made of brick or stone--built against a wall to support or reinforce it. Architects in northern France wanted to build big impressive Gothic cathedrals, and they wanted their cathedrals to be full of light. But if the walls were mostly glass windows, how would they hold up the heavy stone roof? Instead of the buttress being stuck to the side of the building, it would form an arch leading away from the building. The flying buttresses would carry the weight of the roof away from the building and down a column of stone to the ground. With flying buttresses more of the church walls could be made out of glass, and the cathedral looked lighter and more heavenly.


A groin vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round.

The simplest kind of vault is the barrel vault which is generally semicircular in shape. The barrel vault is a continuous arch.

Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194 Gothic ArchitectureA groin vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults.





Stained GlassStained glass reached its peak in the magnificent windows of Gothic structures like Chartres CathedralThe colors glow when light passes through the glassFirst the stained glass artist put a full scale line drawing on a boardThen sheets of glass were cut according to the linesPaint was then applied to create shading and detailsThen pieces put together like a big puzzle using lead stripsReds and blues dominated Gothic stained glass, looks like glowing huge jewelsStained glass served as brilliant colored visual teaching aids for the church

Medieval Art

Stained GlassThe stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral are some of the most extensive and beautiful medieval windows to survive anywhere. There are about 170 Chartres windows in total covering 21,000 square feet. Their subjects including biblical stories, legends of the saints, the lives of heroes like Roland and Charlemagne, and scenes of everyday medieval life.

Medieval Art

Rose Window is a circular window that is characteristic of Gothic church architecture

Late Gothic Painting

Giotto, The Lamentation, 1305, Fresco

Medieval Art

Giotto revolutionized painting by reviving the art of working from natureHis paintings may not seem revolutionary today, but at that time few artists were interested in painting from nature because emphasis was placed on the symbolicGiotto was before his time-led us into the RenaissanceGiotto’s masterpiece is a series of frescos that decorate the walls of Arena ChapelThe frescos illustrate the lives of Christ and the Virgin MaryThe Lamentation is one painting in the series

Late Gothic Painting

Giotto, The Lamentation, 1305, FrescoMedieval Art

Giotto, The Lamentation, 1305, Fresco

The scene looks like it is played out by real people The figures are in active, nature posesThe shading creates a sense of roundness and massNatural light comes from above, Natural landscape/sky (not gold background)-more realisticEmotion of sorrow expressed on every face

Gothic PaintingMedieval ArtGiotto, The Lamentation, 1305, Fresco

Compare and ContrastGiotto, The Lamentation, 1305, fresco

Barna Da Siena, The Crucifixion and the Lamentation, fresco

Documents

Medieval Art. The medieval period of art history spans from the fall of the Roman Empire in 300 AD to the beginning of the Renaissance in 1400 AD. During