ART 201: HANDOUT 21, ART OF THE DARK AGES
The Dark Ages: a period c. 600-750 when the twin shocks of the invasions of the German tribes
into the old Western Roman Empire and the onslaught of Islam led to an almost total elimination
of the urban life and the civilization of the Roman Empire in western Europe.
Celtic-Germanic Style: an artistic style practised by the tribes which invaded the Western
Roman Empire in the 5th century. It is characterized by linear "animal interlace" ornament of
great complexity, and was generally used on small and portable precious objects
(Gummersmark Brooch, 6th century; Purse Cover from the Sutton Hoo ship Burial, 625-633).
Later, the same general style is found in Viking art from Scandinavia (Animal Head, Oseberg
Ship Burial, Norway, c. 825).
Hiberno-Saxon Style: a style of Christian art which adapted the "animal interlace" of CelticGermanic art to church themes. Practiced in the British Isles, the style combined elements from
Irish Christian art (Hibernia=Ireland in Latin), and Anglo-Saxon art. It flourished in the 7th and
8th centuries. The Man, Symbol of St. Matthew, from the Gospel Book of Durrow (c. 675) shows
how artists of the style flattened figures into linear and abstracted pattern, but the page’s border
is a good example of the beauty these artists achieved through the use of complex interlocking
linear pattern Hiberno-Saxon sculpture is similarly flat and linear (South Cross, Ireland, 8th
century) and shows little or no interest in depicting any organic realism in human or animal
figures.
Mozarabic Style: an abstract, at times crude, style found in the art of Christians in northern
Spain in the 9th and 10th centuries. It seems to have been influenced by the abstract and flat
qualities found in Islamic art, and was used to decorate Commentaries on the Book of
Apocalypse by Beatus of Liebana (8th century). The page with the Battle of the Bird and the
Serpent (975) shows little interest in the organic natures of the creatures depicted, but rather
achieves a sort of abstract decoration.
Brescia Cross: made in North italy c. 700, it is encrusted with jewels with a central gold relief of
Christ. On its lower arm is inset a Roman gold glass medallion of the family of Vunnerius
Keramus (c. 250).
ART 201: HANDOUT 22, CAROLINGIAN AND OTTONIAN ART
Charlemagne: ruled a great empire comprising France, Germany, and northern Italy 768-814.
Crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope on Christmas Day, 800. Sponsored a Renaissance
(French for "Rebirth") in the arts which aimed at reviving Classical art and learning. The
resurgence of culture under Charlemagne and his successors is called the Carolingian
Renaissance, and lasted throughout the 9th century.
Palace Chapel, Aachen: built in northern Germany 792-805 by Charlemagne, it was a circular
church based roughly on San Vitale at Ravenna. Unlike San Vitale, the Palace Chapel has a
massive quality to its forms which looks forward to the developed Romanesque architecture of
the 11th century.
Plan of a Monastery, St. Gall: a paper plan for an ideal monastery made c. 820. The plan charts
out a self-sufficient village dominated by a large basilica-plan church with a Westwork of towers
flanking the main entrance. A similar basilica-plan church can be seen in the 17th century
engraving showing the abbey church of St. Riquier in northern France, dedicated in 799. An
engraving of the Monastery of Central in France (dedicated in 799) shows us a less idealized
Carolingian religious foundation.
Carolingian illumination: imitated and revived the forms of Early Christian illustrated religious
books as far as the artists were able. The illustrations (St. Mark) in the Godescalc Evangelistary
(781-783) imitate the style of Classical painting, although the figure is flattened. Later
Carolingian artists practiced a more expressionistic style (Gospel Book of Ebbo, St. Matthew, c.
820) The most amazing of Carolingian manuscripts is the Utrecht Psalter, illustrated in pen and
ink c. 820 (Psalm 23). It has metaphoric pictorial units which illustrate key phrases in each
Psalm. These units are arranged in spatially unified settings on the model of ancient Roman
painting. Carolingian illuminated manuscripts were given splendid covers made of gold, ivory
and gems. The Lindau Gospels (c. 870) has a wrought gold triumphant Christ on the cross
surrounded by expressive mourners. He is beardless, and the cover is thus based on an Early
Christian prototype (probably a manuscript illumination).
The Ottonian Empire: after the final demise of Charlemagne's empire around 900, the next
great cultural force in European history arose in Germany. Otto I was crowned Holy Roman
Emperor in Rome in 962, and the empire that he founded lasted as the greatest political and
cultural force in Europe into the 11th century. Ottonian illumination at times adapts the imagery
of Roman imperial art to show the ruler’s divine authority (Liuthar Gospels c. 996).
Ottonian Churches: developed the Westwork or towered facade first seen in Carolingian
churches; St. Cyriakus at Gernrode (consecrated in 973) shows the rough power of an Ottonian
Westwork. In general, Ottonian churches appear squat and powerful. They often had two
transepts, one at the entrance, and the other just before the altar, and both transepts were
marked visually by massive towers. Ottonian churches remained timber-roofed, but were the
immediate ancestors of Romanesque churches. Their crypts, their basements with chapels,
were often vaulted.
Ottonian art: in some ways a successor to the Carolingian Renaissance, Ottonian art was less
interested in Classicism, and more fascinated with the expression of spiritual values and
feelings through visual images. The Bronze Doors of Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (1015)
imitate the format of earlier doors, but the scenes on them attempt to depict the significance for
Christianity, hence the strange, twisted poses. A similar interest in emotion can be seen in the
wooden Crucifixion of Bishop Gero (c. 970), where Christ suffers on the cross. It is also one of
the first large-scale works of sculpture to be produced since the Roman empire. Ottonian
manuscripts stressed a spiritual expressionism and fervor (Gospel Book of Otto III, ca. 1000),
and thus looked forward towards a main trend in Romanesque art of the 11th and 12th
centuries in Europe. The figures (Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet) are consistently flattened
and divorced from the spatial settings the artist found in his classical models. Some Ottonian
illuminated books also attest to the authority vested in nunneries (presentation page with
Abbess Hitda, early 11th).
ART 201: HANDOUT 23, ROMANESQUE ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Romanesque: the artistic style of western Europe from c. 1050 to c. 1150 in central France, to
c. 1200 in the rest of Europe. So-called because the barrel-vaulted ceilings of Romanesque
churches resemble the vaulting used in ancient Roman architecture.
St. Foy, Conques: a pilgrimage church built in southern France c. 1080-1120. The relics of St.
Foy (a child saint) are kept in a barbarous and ornate reliquary statue of gold and studded with
gems.
Santiago da Compostela: a pilgrimage church built in northwestern Spain 1078-1122. The
church's plan shows a basic geometry. It has a barrel-vaulted nave with a groin-vaulted aisle to
either side. The aisles continues back around the transept and the sanctuary to a series of
radiating chapels at the back of the church, allowing pilgrims to venerate the relics of saints kept
in the chapels even during masses. The west façade is framed by large towers, and another
tower (the lantern) covers the “crossing” where the transcept cuts across the main axis of the
church. The church's main relic the bones of St. James (Sp. Santiago-go figure), one of the
apostles. The doorways have sculpture to emlighten the devout; the south transept portal, called
the Door of the Silversmiths, has scenes in its tympana which suggests that generous giving to
the church will be rewarded by God! Above are images of standing saints.
Cluny: huge and famous monastery in eastern France that spawned many branch houses. It
was famous for its music, and also had a huge church with incipient buttressing of the upper
walls (completed around 1130).
Moissac, Abbey of St. Pierre: Cluniac monastery in southern France. Its South Portal
(doorway) was adorned with relief sculpture c. 1120, including an expressively ascetic Prophet
wound up the trumeau (central post on a doorway). He is joined there by lions. Above, in the
tympanum , the Second Coming is depicted in an expressive fashion. The figures here are
flattened and abstract, but less so than in central France, and probably reflect some observation
of ancient Roman sculpture.
Autun Cathedral: the tympanum (lunette or half-circular arch over a door) of the West Portal
was sculpted with a Last Judgement c. 1130 by a sculptor named Gislebertus. It includes a
notable vision of Hell, with expressive demons weighing the souls of the dead. The great central
Christ of the Second Coming is quite expressive, if very flat. In the nave is a capital carved with
a charming scene of an angel pointing out the Star of Bethlehem to the sleeping Magi.
The Morgan Madonna: an iconic wooden statue of the Virgin holding the Christ child, made c.
1150. Its massive qualities and stylized drapery are typical Romanesque features.
St. Savin-sur-Gartempe: a hall church in central France built ca. 1095-1115. Its barrel-vaulted
nave preserves a notable fresco cycle of the Old and the New Testament in a schematic and
rather childlike style (Tower of Babel, c. 1100), which is, however, easily "read."
San Clemente, Tahull: church in northeastern Spain with its apse decorated with Christ in
Majesty c. 1123. The style is very flat and schematic, but clearly based on a Byzantine
Pantokrator (all-ruler) image.
Cluny Lectionary: a book of readings for the mass decorated at the great monastery of Cluny
in the early 12th century. The Pentecost page illustrates the painter's close dependence on
Byzantine prototypes for his illustrations.
Durham Cathedral: built in northern England 1093-1130, has groin-vaulted aisles. Its nave is
groin-vaulted with ribbing, and is the immediate ancestor of Gothic churches. Also has
interesting incised designs on its nave pillars.
St. Etienne, Caen: begun in Normandy ca. 1068, its austerely powerful two-towered Westwork
was built around 1100, and is the direct ancestor of Gothic facades. St. Etienne’s interior was
groin-vaulted with ribbing (like Durham) in the 1120s; it was originally timber-roofed.
The Winchester Psalter: illuminated at Winchester c. 1150, includes a lively depiction of the
Mouth of Hell. The pictorial equivalent of Autun Cathedral's Last Judgement's right side.
Worchester Chronicle: a secular “history” by a monk named John (c. 1140); has lively
illustrations of the reign of King Henry I. John, of course, is most interested in showing how God
was working in the King’s life to preserve and protect the realm!
The Bayeux Tapestry: actually embroidered, it depicts the story of the Norman conquest of
England in 1066 with a wealth of narrative detail. Demonstrates the growing interest in secular
(non-religious) themes in later Medieval art. Style very flat and two-dimensional, but lively
(Bishop Odo Blesses the Feast). Sewn ca. 1066-82.
Speyer Cathedral: begun in Germany as an Ottonian church ca. 1030, it was rebuilt after 1082
at which time its nave was groin vaulted. Has massive towers at the Westwork and at the
transept.
Tomb Effigy of Rudolf of Swabia: bronze tomb cover with a reclining “portrait” of the king, who
died in 1080.
Portable Altar of Roger of Helmarshausen: made by Roger, a monastic goldsmith, for the
Abbot of Helmarshausen c. 1100. It is rectangular and made of silver with gems. On one of its
short ends is a relief depiction of Christ in Majesty, and on one long end are incised and inlaid
enthroned saints.
Liber Scivias of Hildegard of Bingen: a mystical tract by a German nun which told of her
visions (1165-1175). The title means “Know the Ways of God” in Latin. The frontispiece shows
Hlldegard’s head bathed in God’s flames (the Holy Spirit) while her scribe looks on.
Sant'Ambrogio, Milan: a Lombard church with a brick facade which has the austere power
typical of Romanesque architecture. The nave was groin-vaulted in bays after 1117, but the
vaults rise so high that they give the appearance of domes.
Pisa Cathedral: part of an ensemble built 1053-1272, and which includes the famous Leaning
Tower. The Cathedral (1063-1118 and later) has a facade with multiple stacked colonnades
which remind one of ancient Roman facades (i.e. the Colosseum). The nave is timber roofed in
imitation of the great Early Christian Basilicas of Rome (i.e. Old St. Peter's). The transept has a
dome and the apse bears a Byzantinizing mosaic, both testimonies to Pisa's trade with the
Byzantine Empire in this period.
San Clemente, Rome: rebuilt c. 1120-30, its interior has ornate inlays of stone based on
ancient Roman decoration. Its apse has a mosaic of the Crucifixion which looks back to Early
Christian mosaics.
Wiligelmus: sculptor who made four lively panels depicting the Creation and Fall of Man (up to
Noah) from the Book of Genesis around 1100. These were built into the façade of Modena
Cathedral after 1106. The arcaded frame of Wiligelmus’ panels suggest that he was imitating
Early Christian sculpted sarcophagi (see the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus-p. 309), although
his lumpy figures are scarcely very Roman.
ART 201: HANDOUT 24, GOTHIC ART IN NORTHERN EUROPE
Gothic: a style of art and architecture which arose around Paris ca. 1140-1200 and which
spread throughout Europe by ca. 1250. Characterized by pointed arches and rib vaulting.
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis: a church near Paris notable for its Early Gothic choir of ca.
1140-1145. This is ribbed vaulted, and features the radiating chapels characteristic of French
Gothic churches. Its design was inspired by the intellectual beliefs of its Abbot, Suger, especially
the many windows, which to Suger symbolized the "Light Divine" of God.
Chartres Cathedral: dedicated to the Virgin Mary, one of the finest Gothic Cathedrals, located
around 25 miles from Paris. Its West Portal (ca. 1145-1170) is the finest surviving example of
Early Gothic sculpture, and has an essentially Romanesque style but a more sophisticated
program than Romanesque sculpture. It presents a complete summation of Christian belief in
its three tympana , with one showing the Birth of Christ, another the Ascension, and the Central
portal Christ in Glory or the Last Judgement. This West Portal survived a serious fire which
destroyed the rest of the church in 1194. Except for the West Portal, Chartres Cathedral was
largely built c. 1195-1235. The sculpture of the South Transept Portal (ca. 1210-1235) shows
the limited naturalism of developed Gothic sculpture (Saints Stephen and Theodore). The
interior shows the tripartite division of the nave walls characteristic of developed High Gothic
cathedrals (c. 1200-1250); a nave arcade, triforium (or blind gallery), and the clerestory with its
stained glass windows. The rib-vaulted nave is shored up by the flying buttresses which also
decorate the sides and back of the church. High Gothic architecture saw the height of the nave
as symbolic of the quest to reach heaven. Chartres Cathedral's nave reaches a height of 118
feet!
Amiens Cathedral: Begun in 1220 has a nave 139 feet tall, but otherwise similar to Chartres.
Its West Facade shows the deep portals and lavish sculptural decoration characteristic of High
Gothic, and includes a notable trumeau figure of the Beau Dieu (Noble God=Christ).
Reims Cathedral: built c. 1210-1299, and most notable for its West facade of c. 1255. This is
heavily ornamented, with deeply recessed portals and much sculpture. The sculpture was made
over a long period of time, and shows several sub-styles within Gothic. The Visitation of c. 1230
is very Classicizing, while the adjacent Annunciation of c. 1230-1250 shows the limited
naturalism characteristic of most Gothic sculpture. The Angel of the Annunciation (c. 1255)
looks ahead to the graceful and refined if boneless style of later French Gothic sculpture (i.e.
The Madonna of Jeanne d'Evreux, c. 1339).
Stained Glass: a style of painting on glass used for the windows of Gothic churches. Stone
tracery defines the general form of the window, and the actual composition is made up of pieces
of glass of varying colors with paint also on them leaded into place within the tracery. Stained
glass gave the interiors of Gothic churches a magical and spiritual colored light (Tree of Jesse
Window, c. 1170, and Charlemagne Window, c. 1230, both Chartres).
“Attack on the Castle of Love”: a ivory jewelry box carved c. 1330-50 with relief scenes
derived from contemporary romances. Shows the growth of secular art in the Late Gothic Age.
Sainte Chapelle, Paris: a chapel built 1243-1248 by the King of France to house relics of
Christ, characteristic of the Rayonnant (radiating) style of French Gothic of the second half of
the 13th and 14th centuries. In Rayonnant, the exterior decoration proliferated and became
increasingly precious, while on the interiors the triforium story was eliminated and the windows
became even larger. The name comes from the elaborate bar tracery or mullion work that
frames the windows and makes up the decoration of the exterior.
Moralized Bible with Louis IX and Blanche of Castile: Bible (c. 1230) with contemporary
applications that includes a title page that shows Louis IX and his mother Blanche of Castile,
against a gold ground, watching a monk dictating the text to a scribe.
Psalter of St. Louis: a book of Psalms illuminated for the sainted Louis IX of France c. 1260.
The paintings show a strong influence of contemporary Rayonnant architecture in their
backgrounds. The figures are very lively but also very two-dimensional, and rather like the
figures in stained glass (Abraham and the Three Angels).
The Morgan Library Picture Bible: a heavily illuminated Bible of c. 1250 made for King St.
Louis IX. Biblical scenes are illustrated like comic books today, in multiple panels (Page with
David and Saul), and with an abbreviated text. Pictorial space is very limited (the backgrouns
alternate red and blue!), and the figures, while shaded on their drapery, as elongated and flat,
but the scenes are lively and elegant.
Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux: illuminated in grisaille (gray-i.e.in tones of gray) for the Queen of
France ca. 13255 by a professional artist named Jean Pucelle. He clearly imitates contemporary
Italian painting by placing his figures into fairly realistic spatial groupings (Arrest of Christ) and in
architectural settings (Annunciation). His figures still show the unrealistic swaying poses
characteristic of developed Gothic art. The bottom of each page has pen and ink droleries ,
genre scenes often with little relevance to the biblical scenes. This type of book has devotional
readings for a lay person.
Salisbury Cathedral: built in southern England c. 1220-1265 (with a 14th century tower over
the crossing); shows the typical Early English Gothic long, low, sprawling plan and emphasis on
horizontality. The facade shows wide screen-like qualities unlike the pronounced centrality and
verticality of French facades.
Decorated Style: the English equivalent to Rayonnant (Sanctuary of Exeter Cathedral, c. 12701366). It is characterized by the extreme complexity of its vaulting and lavish interior decoration.
Windmill Psalter: illuminated c. 1270-80, has bottom of the page pictures unrelated to the
biblical scenes of the main illustrations. These take the form of decorated letters of the text, and
form allusive commentaries on the text of the psalm (Tree of Jesse and Judgement of Solomon
with Windmill).
Nicholas of Verdun: metalworker from the Meuse River region in Belgium who made the
elaborate Shrine of the Three Kings for Cologne Cathedral to house relics of the three Magi (c.
1190-1210). It bears relief images of seated prophets on its long sides which show a greater
naturalism and classicism of the figures than earlier Romanesque pictures; probably inspired by
Byzantine work.
Death of the Virgin, Strassbourg Cathedral: a tympanum on the south portal (c. 1230) which
has a classicistic style based on the work of Nicholas of Verdun and earlier French Gothic
sculpture (Chartres), but on second glance the space of the scene is crowded, and has the
expressionistic fervor typical of German art.
The Naumburg Master: decorated the choir of Naumburg Cathedral c. 1245-1260. The figures
which decorate the interior of the choir walls seem very realistic and portrait-like (Ekkehard and
Uta), until one discovers that they had been dead for centuries before the Master sculpted their
"portraits". A similar “realism” is displayed in St. Maurice at Magdeburg Cathedral (c. 1250);
since the saint was from Egypt he is shown as black (he died in 286).
ART 201: HANDOUT 25, ITALIAN GOTHIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Siena Cathedral: its facade was begun in 1284. Although it has Gothic spires and portal
sculpture, as in French churches, it uses much color and has an essentially screen-like
character which differs from contemporary work in northern Europe.
Florence Cathedral: Italian architecture emphasizes the presence of its walls, in contrast to
architecture in northern Europe, which tends to "de-materialize" its walls for spiritual effects.
This can be seen in Florence's Cathedral, begun in 1296, but not finished until 1436.
Nicola Pisano: sculptor who moved to Pisa from southern Italy ca. 1250. His Pulpit for Pisa's
Baptistry (ca. 1260) has a basically Gothic format, but shows a strong Classicism in its style,
especially in its massive figures (Nativity).
Giovanni Pisano: son of Nicola, worked ca. 1260-1315. His pulpit for Pisa Cathedral (ca. 1300)
is much more Gothic in style than his father's earlier pulpit in the Baptistry (compare the
Nativities). Nevertheless, Giovanni's work retains a greater feeling for the three-dimensionality
of the human form than contemporary French work.
Andrea Pisano: made a set of bronze doors for Florence's Baptistry 1330-36. These are double
and each has 28 square panels containing figures and pictures within Gothic quatrefoil frames.
Twenty of the panels depict the Life of John the Baptist. The style shows Andrea was heavily
influenced by Giotto.
Coppo di Marcovaldo: Maniera Greca painter from Tuscany, active around 1250, His
Crucifixion of c. 1270 shows the emotionality and stylization of Italian painting before 1300, but
also a clear debt to Byzantine precedent.
Duccio: Sienese painter active ca. 1280-1315. His greatest work was the Maestà altarpiece for
Siena Cathedral, depicting the Madonna and Child enthroned amidst saints (1308-1311).The
back shows scenes of Christ's Life. Duccio was a beautiful colorist, but shows less interest in
realistic space and 3-D figures than Giotto.
Simone Martini: Sienese painter active c. 1315-1344. Died at Avignon in southern France
working for the Pope, and helped to spread the Italian style of painting to northern Europe. His
"Annunciation (1333) for Siena's Cathedral shows the refined linear grace of his style. It shows
the Italian "relative realism" of figures and setting which impressed northern Europeans, and
which presages the Renaissance.
The Lorenzetti Brothers: Pietro and Ambrogio, Sienese painters c. 1320-1348. Both died in
the Black Death which essentially ended Italian Late Gothic painting in the 14th century. Pietro's
"Birth of the Virgin" (1342) shows an interest in placing the scene in a "real" space, and making
the scene "live" through realistic details and actions by the figures. Ambrogio's great fresco
cycle, the "Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the City (and Country)", was painted 13381340 in Siena's town hall. It illustrates the growing use of art for non-religious purposes. The
Allegory of Good Government, which survives in good shape, presents us with a fairly realistic
view of a 14th century Italian city-state, and shows a wealth of genre (everyday life) detail.
These are subordinated to an overall medieval format: cataloguing the activities which go on in
a well-governed city. The work of the Lorenzettis looks forward to the Renaissance, but they
remained Late Gothic artists.
Cimabue: Florentine painter of the late 13th century whose Madonna in Majesty of c. 1280
shows the continuing influence of Byzantine painting in Italy, as well as a new humanism and
interest in monumental painting.
Giotto: Late Gothic painter from Florence active c. 1300-1337. Most notable work is the Arena
Chapel in Padua (c. 1305). Scenes such as The Lamentation show massive figures which strive
to achieve three-dimensionality and an attempt to place his figures within a real space. His
limited success in these goals and the heavy drapery which swath his figures demonstrate that
he remained a Gothic artist, but his work presages the Italian Renaissance (see the Madonna in
Majesty, c. 1310).