THE MIDDLE (DARK) AGES
EUROPE c. ______________ AD
TOPIC: Early Christian, Byzantine and Islam
308 AD- The Roman Empire splits into two:
1. Western Empire declines
2. Eastern Empire (orthodox) rises
Constantinople  Moscow
-fall of Rome
-313 AD Edict of Milan, Christianity becomes legal
-the church becomes the center of life
-Christianity rejects all previous accomplishments in art, wants
symbolic representation
-art is used for propaganda, for the church
-depicts the life of Christ (Old and New Testament)
-art is symbolic and emotional- lacks realism- is flat and
distorted
*-art is portable (especially before Christianity is legal)
*illuminated manuscripts
*icons
*diptychs
*triptychs
*crucifixes
*frescos in catacombs etc.
Often in the church-mosaics, sculpture, painting and church
service ornaments
Tapestries- Unicorn Tapestries at The Cloisters in NYC
Bayeux Tapestries
Greco/Roman- Body is beautiful

Medieval- Body is ugly and sinful
Illuminated Manuscripts
1. Celtic- Germanic other…
animals, interlacing lines, abstract motifs
2. Carolingian-very ornate, Byzantine influence
(King Charlemagne)
Ottonian- spiritual action
- pastels
- out of proper proportion
Architecture- Basilicas (1st churches),
*San Vitale- church in Italy, used *tesserae
*Hagia Sofia- starts out Byzantine…
St. Basil in Moscow- onion domes
Islam c.____________ AD
-abstract designs (interlacing lines), illuminations
-mosques, domes, minarets
-calligraphy
-forbids human representation in art inside mosque
*Dome of the Rock
*Hagia Sofia- becomes a mosque
*Alhambra- a Moorish palace/ fortress
THE MIDDLE (DARK) AGES
EUROPE
Part I
Topic: Romanesque c.______________________AD
-influenced by Roman, Early Christian & Byzantine
-church increases in power, influence and money
-*architecture is the #1 art form (sculptures and paintings are
used as ornaments and decorations)
*church construction:
-vaulting, including ribbed and fan vaults
1. thick walls
2. small windows
3. round arches
4. interiors do not match exteriors
5. a tympanum at the entrance
Part II
Topic: Gothic c. _________________________AD
-Gothic churches become taller (cathedrals), building higher
means getting closer to god
-thin walls supported by flying buttresses
-tall windows stained glass, clerestory
-rose windows large, round window on south transept
-interior and exterior match
-pointed arches
-gargoyles on the outside
Ex.- St. Patrick’s (NYC)
St. John’s (NYC) –the largest
Riverside (NYC)
Notre Dame (France)
Chartes (France)
Part III
Topic: Late Gothic c. _________________________AD
-altar, pulpit moves forward
-Florence and Sienna are leading art rivals
- artwork depicts the life of Christ (Old and New Testament)
*The leading art forms (other than architecture)-sculpture (in the church)
-painting- panels, fresco (Byzantine style)- used egg tempera
-stained glass
-illuminated manuscripts
*emphasis on narratives, color and line
Siena
*Duccio
Florence
*Giotto (scrovegini: Arena Chapel @ Padua)
*Ghiberti
&
*Brunelleschi- both are sculptors and architects
The Renaissance
Part 1: Early (____________AD)
*inspired by Greeks and Romans
*art centers- __________________________
-de Medici family- ___________________________
*Baptistry Door Competition
-humanism- ____________________________
-powerful guilds
*invention of perspective
1. atmospheric perspective- Masaccio
2. linear perspective- Brunelleschi
Four Breakthroughs
1. perspective
2. use of light and shadow
3. pyramid configuration
4. oil paint and stretched canvas
Artists:
1. *Giotto- Lamentation
2. *Ghiberti- sculptor (Gates of Paradise)
3. *Brunelleschi- architect, sculptor, dome
4. *Donatello- sculptor (*David, Feast of Herod)
5. Leon Batista Alberto- architect
6. Andrea del Verrocchio- sculptor, teacher of da Vinci
7. *Masaccio- painter (*Tribute Money, Holy Trinity)
8. Fra Angelico- (Annunciation)
9. Fra Fillipi Lippi
10.
Ghirlandaio- painter, teacher of Michelangelo
11.
*Botticelli- painter (*Birth of Venus, Primavera)
12.
Bellini- painter, Venice (St. Francis in Ecstasy)
13.
Uccello- painter, secular
14.
Mantegna- Venice, used foreshortening
15.
Castagno
16.
Della Francesca
Part 2: High Renaissance (_________AD)
-Age of the Giants
-artists as genius
-oil paint
*aerial perspective-
*sfumato*chiaroscuroArtists:
1. *Leonardo da Vinci- painter, inventor, engineer, poet
aerial perspective (*Mona Lisa, *Last Supper)
2. *Michelangelo Buonorotti- sculptor, painter, architect, poet
(*Pieta, *David, *Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Dome)
3. *Raphael Sanzio- painter (*School of Athens)
4. *Titian (A.K.A. Tiziano Vecellio)- painter, leader in Venice,
color, mood, layers of paint and glaze
Part III: Mannerism (_________________AD)
*Period between the end of High Renaissance and Baroque
-crisp and frozen shapes
-elongated bodies
-distorted forms
-peculiar perspective views
Artists:
1. Parmigianino- elongated forms (*Madonna of the Long
Neck)
2. *El Greco- distorted figures (*The Burial of Count Orgaz,
*View of Toledo)
TOPIC: NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
__________________AD (Europe outside of Italy)
-Flanders (Bruges)is the art capital, Belgium (Flanders), Holland
-*use of oil paint
-rise of universities and printed books (invention of the printing
press), guilds
-centralized power—nations
-Protestant Reformation—weakening of the Catholic church
-decline of feudalism—rise for cultural, social and economic
change
-the north continues making Gothic art/arch
-Burgundy—Dukes were patrons of the arts—furniture,
tapestries, illuminated manuscripts
ITALY
N. EUROPE
Composition
Materials
Themes
Geometric,
scientific
Marble
sculpture
Religion
Myths,
historical
themes
Color,
detail
Wood
sculpture,
Stained glass
Religion
Landscapes,
genre
Artists:
THE NETHERLANDS/ FLANDERS
1. *Jan Van Eyck- *Arnolfini Wedding, *The Ghent Altarpiece
2. *Robert Campin (Master of Flemalle)- *Merode Altarpiece
3. Rogier van der Weyden
4. *Hieronymus Bosch- *Garden of Earthly Delights
5. *Pieter Bruegel- *Peasant Wedding, Tower of Babel
*The Return of the Hunters, genre__________________________
GERMANY
1. *Albrecht Dürer (International Artist)- woodcut prints, self
portraits *Night, Death and the Devil
2. *Hans Holbein (court painter)- Ambassadors,
portraits
3. Hans Memling
4. Lucas Cranach
5. Matthias Grünewald- altarpieces
FRANCE
1. Jean Fouquet- portraits and religious scenes
BAROQUE
ITALY and SPAIN c. ______________AD
- starts in Rome spreads throughout Europe
- church and aristocracy continue to patronize art and
commission artists
- lots of motion, ornate, grandiose, emotional
- use of tenebrism- a violent contrast of light and dark, a
heightened form of chiaroscuro
- trompe l’oeil- trick of the eye, used in Baroque ceilings and
Bernini’s *Ecstasy of St. Theresa
Artists:
ITALY:
1. *Caravaggio- chiaroscuro, natural light streaming in,
Calling of St. Matthew
2. *Bernini- sculptor, *David, *Ecstasy of St. Theresa
3. Borromini- architect
4. Artemisia Gentileschi- Judith and the Head of Holofernes
5. Caracchi Bros.- ceiling frescos
SPAIN:
1. *Diego Velasquez- *Maids of Honor
2. Riberia
3. Murillo
FRANCE
-France is the most powerful nation in Europe
- Louis the XIV, The Sun King
- Paris becomes the art capital (until WW II)
- The French Academy rules art
Artists:
1. Nicolas Poussin- classical painter, Rape of the Sabine
Women
2. Claude Lorrain
3. George de la Tour
Architecture- *Palace of Versailles______________________
*Hall of Mirrors- __________________________
ENGLAND
1. Christopher Wren- architect
GERMANY
- chateaus
DUTCH AND FLEMISH
Flanders (Belgium)- Catholic, religious iconology
Holland- Protestant, free market, still life,
landscapes, portraits
Flemish Artists1. *Peter Paul Rubens- *Raising of the Cross, Garden of Love,
*Lion Hunt- color, swirling action, “Rubenesque” women, Rococco
style
2. Anthony Van Dyck
3. Judith Leyster
Dutch Artists1. *Rembrandt van Rijn- *The Night Watch
painter, printmaker, self-portraits, portraits, landscapes
2. *Jan Vermeer- *Girl with a Pearl Earring, family portraits,
used a camera obscura
3. Frans Hals- master of the moment
4. Ruisdael- landscapes
ROCOCO
Topic: Rococo (______________AD)
France
--rise of the middle class
--Louis the XIV- XVI
--High Fashion
--stresses beauty over depth
*developed 1st in the Decorative Arts (Interior and Exterior)
--use of asymmetrical designs
--more feminine
--rediscovery of Chinese porcelain (Meissen from Germany)
Paintings:
*fetes galantes- ____________________________
theme- love
mood- playful, superficial, alive with energy
style- light, graceful, delicate
colors- pale- white, silver, gold, light pink, blues, greens
Artists:
1. Jean Watteau (Fr.)*Pilgrimage to Cythera, Mezzetin
2. Francois Boucher
3. Fragonard (Fr.)- The Swing
4. Sir Thomas Gainsborough (Br.)- The Blue Boy